Sanju Samson to join Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2026? Report provides massive update

Rumours had been circulating recently about the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) looking to rope in Sanju Samson from the Rajasthan Royals (RR) for the 2026 season of the Indian Premier League (IPL). CSK are still in the hunt for a proper successor to MS Dhoni, who is nothing short of a legend for the franchise and has been captaining the side since the inaugural season of the league.

That is why rumours had started to spread about CSK potentially looking to replace Dhoni with Samson, who is the current captain and wicketkeeper for the Rajasthan-based franchise in IPL.The latter has captained RR for multiple seasons now and even though he has no trophies to show for it, his performances with the bat have been great. On top of this, the 30-year-old is quite experienced as well, having made his IPL debut back in 2013.

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Samson could have been a great replacement for Dhoni at CSK, however, a report from the Times of India has shut down all such rumous and has claimed that RR are not in favour of trading Samson and consider him as an important part of their set-up.

“RR have decided not to trade Samson or any of their players for now. Samson is very much a part of the Royals set-up and the undisputed captain of the team," a source was quoted as saying by the Times of India.

Samson had a dismal IPL 2025 campaign

IPL 2025 wasn't a campaign to remember for Samson, who only featured in a total of 9 matches for the Rajasthan-based franchise due to an injury to his index finger. In his absence, the side was captained by Riyan Parag, who wasn't really able to lead the team to good results and they ended up finishing ninth on the table with only 8 points from 14 matches.

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Meanwhile, Samson was also recently snubbed from South Zone's squad for the upcoming Duleep Trophy, which is set to begin from August 28. This comes after the wicketkeeper-batter was excluded from Kerala's squad in the last edition of the Vijay Hazare Trophy. This snub couldn't have come at a worse time for Samson as the Asia Cup is just around the corner.