It seems almost inevitable that Sanju Samson will leave the Rajasthan Royals (RR) before the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 auction. The buzz from the start was that Samson could be traded to the Chennai Super Kings (CSK). Reports seem to refute a potential trade between the two franchises.
Why the RR-CSK trade for Samson isn’t feasible
Current CSK player Ravichandran Ashwin has given his two cents on a potential trade between RR and CSK. The off-spinner thinks that Rajasthan may have issues getting a good replacement for Samson. Whichever team gets him will have to spend Rs 18 crore. That’s a huge sum considering it’ll be a mini-auction.
“Why the trade won’t work is because if Sanju is traded to CSK, and RR then tries to trade with other teams, they’re unlikely to get valuable players in return. For example, if RR wants a spinner like Ravi Bishnoi and approaches LSG, the problem is that if LSG acquires Sanju and gives away Bishnoi, they also have to manage the remaining purse required to retain Sanju—which becomes LSG’s responsibility,” Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.
The veteran spinner also pointed out that CSK as a franchise is more old school and isn’t keen on trading players. Only once have they been involved; that too was a cash deal with RR for Robin Uthappa for 2020. If Samson were to be traded, Ashwin thinks that CSK won’t trade big names like Ravindra Jadeja or Shivam Dube. This would mean RR aren’t to gain anything by trading Samson to CSK. And one has to wonder, will Chennai be willing to hand Rs 18 crore to Rajasthan in a cash deal?
“CSK generally don’t believe in trading. They aren’t going to trade players like Ravindra Jadeja or Shivam Dube. So, in all likelihood, Sanju coming to CSK is bleak, for the reasons I’ve explained. RR don’t have much to gain from this kind of trade,” he added.
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