IPL 2026: Sanju Samson to CSK deal is on, CSK to trade Jadeja & Sam Curran to Rajasthan Royals
In what might prove to be one of the most significant and prominent player trade deals in the history of the Indian Premier League (IPL), 2008 winners Rajasthan Royals (RR) are slated to trade skipper Sanju Samson to five-time winners Chennai Super Kings inexchange of Sam Curran & Ravindra Jadeja.
It's beleived that both IPL teams have had a word with all three players involved but neither of them have confirmed the development yet, as per ESPNcricinfo & Cricbuzz.
The IPL governing council must receive an expression of interest from both Rajasthan and Chennai that names the 3 players involved in the transfer. According to the trading rules, the franchises may continue to negotiate a final agreement that will also be approved by the governing council after receiving the players' written assent.
Both Jadeja & Samson have been associated with CSK & RR for a long period of time. The former has been part of the Chennai-based team since 2012 while the latter made his IPL debut for the 2008 winners in 2013. They weren't a part of these two teams during the 2016 and 2017 seasons as both franchises were suspended for those two specific years.Sanju had gave a hint after the conclusion of the 2025 season of the IPL that he is looking for a change of scenary and wants to be released by the Royals.
Talking about Jadeja, his services were retained by Chennai in the mega-auction of 2025 for a mammoth price of 18 crore Indian rupees as the second retention pick. Alongside former skipper MSD, the spin-bowling all rounder has been a regular part of the franchise's core. He has played a key role in helping Chennai lift three IPL trophies since his arrival 13 years ago in 2012.
The 36-year-old was a hero in Chennai Super Kings's victory in the IPL final of 2023 versus Gujarat as his heroics with the bat in the final over helped CSK lift the IPL trophy for a record fifth time. That season was also his best bowling wise he ended with 20 scalps to his name in that year. In 2025, he achieved the same feat with the bat, amassing 301 runs, with the assistance of two half centuries, including one against bitter-rivals Mumbai Indians.
After Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and Dinesh Karthik, Jadeja has participated in 254 IPL games, ranking fifth in the list of highest appearances made by any player in the history of the competition. He has taken the most wickets for CSK with 143, and his best bowling stats are 5 for 16. Together with Dhoni, he has won the most Player-of-the-Match honors (16). After a dismal start to the season, Jadeja relinquished the captaincy of CSK to Dhoni in the middle of 2022.
Jadeja's first IPL squad as a 19-year-old was Rajasthan Royals, led by Shane Warne, and they were also the first team he won the championship with in the inaugural season of the cash-rich t20 league. After representing RR for the first two seasons, Jaddu was suspended by the IPL in 2010 for attempting to directly negotiate a deal with the Mumbai Indians (MI).Following the ban, Jadeja played for the Kochi Tuskers in 2011 until CSK paid 9.70 crore Indian Rupees to secure his services in the 2012 big-auction.
Talking about Sanju, he was the youngest player to be retained by RR at the age of 19 before the 2014 season, following an outstanding first IPL season in 2013 in which RR finished third and second in the Champions League T20. Samson returned to the team in 2018 after RR was suspended for two years in 2016–17. After being named captain in 2021, he and RR's team director, Kumar Sangakkara, guided the team to the IPL final for the first time since 2008 in 2022.
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