On Thursday, it was reported by Cricbuzz that Sanju Samson wants to leave the Rajasthan Royals (RR) and has even asked the franchise to release or trade him ahead of IPL 2026. This came after there were rumours spreading that the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) were interested in bringing in Samson and making him the successor to MS Dhoni.
RR is ready to trade Samson with CSK
Though it didn't look like that RR would be interested in trading or releasing Samson as he was quite an important player for the side, a report by The Indian Express has now claimed that the franchise are ready to trade the wicket-keeper batter with CSK. However, there is a catch as RR want not one but two players from the Chennai -based franchise in exchange for Samson.
“It is understood that Chennai are open to the idea of bringing the 30-year-old to Chepauk through a trade deal via cash. But it has hit a roadblock, with Rajasthan preferring an exchange of two players from Chennai," the report stated.
“According to those in the know, the chances of Samson entering the auctions are highly likely at this stage if both Rajasthan and Chennai don’t reach an agreement," the report added.
Apart from CSK, another franchise that is interested in signing Samson is Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). Notably, the 30-year-old was a part of the KKR side that won the IPL title back in 2012, however he never made any appearance for the team during the campaign. It remains to be seen which side will be able to sign Samson for IPL 2026.
Meanwhile, Samson had a forgettable IPL 2025 campaign with RR. Not only did the side finish ninth on the points table, but the 30-year-old's individual performances weren't anything impressive either. He had come into the season with a finger injury which saw him only feature in nine games throughout the campaign. He finished the season with 285 runs, scoring just one half-century with his highest individual score being 66. In comparison to his previous campaigns with the Rajasthan-based franchise, the 2025 season was particularly quite underwhelming for Samson and he will be looking to improve his performance next year.