Sanju Samson New CAPTAIN of CSK? ? Dhoni’s Farewell Season Could Bring Big Captaincy Twist

The Upcoming IPL 2026 season could bring huge change to Chennai Super Kings (CSK) as reports suggest that Sanju Samson is joinhing CSK, whereas Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran will move to Rajasthan Royals (RR) in a trade deal. Reports are also claiming that IPL 2026 is probably the farewell season for the CSK, as Sanju will be their new face.
Sanju was the captain of Rajasthan Royals for a couple of years, and now, he will be in CSK, and chances are high that Ruturaj Gaikwad might lose his captaincy. Many experts are saying that this move by Chennai Super Kings is purely seeing him as a future captain because giving your two key players for just one batter makes no sense.
Sanju Samson has that experience, and he is a well-known face in the Indian Premier League. Sanju perfectly fits in the Chenani Super Kings; he has a calm nature and aggressive batter. Most importantly, Sanju has a long captaincy experience; he has been leading RR for a long time.
Dhoni’s Farewell Season:
CSK CEO Kasi Viswanathan confirmed MS Dhoni’s participation in the upcoming IPL 2026 season, and it is expected that this would be his last season. Dhoni stepped back as captain in IPL 2025 after Gaikwad’s injury, but CSK had a tough season; they finished at the bottom.
Since Sanju Samson is joining CSK and he is expected to be the new captain, the chances are high that MS Dhoni will retire after IPL 2026. Dhoni himself wants to leave the franchise in good and capable hands, which Sanju Samson fulfills perfectly.
The Trade deal between CSK and RR is one of the massive deals in IPL history, and if Ruturaj Gaikwad is going to lead CSK, then there’s no point in adding Sanju Samson since they have lots of quality players who are the same as Sanju.
Releasing Players like Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran for Sanju Samson is the clear message that they are looking for him as their new captain.
Mohd. Kaif on Sanju joining CSK:
The Former Indian Batter Mohd. Kaif said, “If Samson is likely to join CSK, there would be a lot of calls. Sanju must have called on the phone. Behind the scenes, there are a lot of phone calls. Sanju might have spoken to CSK, maybe Dhoni, ‘Bhai Kya lagta hai.’
He further added, “See, Dhoni runs the team, and if CSK wants Sanju this time, then he is also the future captain. It also means that this is Dhoni’s last year. Why would they want Sanju? Jadeja has been playing for them for a long time (since 2012).”
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