According to multiple reports, Rajasthan Royals are likely to trade their captain Sanju Samson for star Chennai Super Kings all-rounders Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran ahead of the Indian Premier League 2026. However, a fresh turn of events sees a report claiming that Jadeja’s name in the trade is fixed, but for the second player the five-time champions are still contemplating. It added that CSK pushed for Curran as RR demanded a second player along with Jadeja in the deal, but the inaugural edition champions are aiming to rope in Sri Lanka’s star pacer Matheesha Pathirana.
The report was carried by The Indian Express, which stated that CSK are not willing to trade Pathirana. It further said that RR showed their intent to rope in Jadeja while putting forward the Samson deal and demanded one more player, preferably Pathirana.
The report added that CSK agreed to include Jadeja in the trade only after the player consented. Before this, a lengthy discussion regarding the matter took place between CSK’s veteran player MS Dhoni, captain Ruturaj Gaikwad, and head coach Stephen Fleming.
Jadeja, who was a member of the Rajasthan Royals in the first two IPL editions, has spent a majority of his career at CSK, where he has not just been one of their frontline players but was also promoted to captaincy when Dhoni stepped away from the role before the 2022 edition. Meanwhile, the 27-year-old England all-rounder Curran has been a part of CSK as well as Punjab Kings. On the other hand, Pathirana, a pacer, is a rising star groomed by the five-time champions.
Talking about Samson, he has represented RR for 11 years, and after the conclusion of this year’s edition, the wicketkeeper-batter admitted that he was looking for a change and wanted to be released by the franchise.
For the trade-off to proceed, both RR and CSK will be required to provide an expression of interest to the IPL governing council, and once the players provide their written consents, the two teams will have to work out the final agreement, which would also be ratified by the governing body.
(With PTI Inputs)
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‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source sports.ndtv.com ’
