Chennai Super Kings Are Interested In Bringing Sanju Samson For IPL 2026
Chennai Super Kings expressed clearly that they are keen to have Sanju Samson in their team for IPL 2026.
Kevin Varchand 
Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India] July 1: Five-time champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) have started making their moves ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 edition. For the first time in their history, the franchise finished at the bottom of the points table this year. MS Dhoni took the reins of the team midway through the competition after Ruturaj Gaikwad was ruled out due to a hairline fracture in his elbow. Over the past week, rumours have been rife that CSK is interested in bringing Rajasthan Royals captain Sanju Samson on board.
The chatter has been prominent on social media, and several CSK fan clubs have been discussing the prospects of Samson joining the uber-popular franchise.
According to a report in Cricbuzz, CSK is open to welcoming the wicketkeeper-batter into their fold. A senior CSK official told the publication that the club is indeed “interested” in having Samson on their team, but no formal communication has been initiated with the Rajasthan Royals yet.
“We are definitely looking at Sanju. He is an Indian batter, who is a keeper and an opener. So if he is available, we will certainly have a look at the option of having him in our fold,” the official told Cricbuzz.
“Who we will trade him with we have not taken that call because the matter has not gone that far. But yes, in principle, we are interested,” the official added.
If CSK want to bring in Samson, they would be required to trade some of their players in return. The India wicketkeeper-batter was Rajasthan Royals No.1 retention at INR 18 crore ahead of the IPL 2025 season. The trading window is currently below, and it remains to be seen whether CSK will make a formal approach to the Rajasthan Royals management. According to Cricbuzz, not just CSK but a couple of other teams have also approached the Royals for Samson.
Rajasthan Royals had finished in the second last position in the points table in the 18th edition of the T20 tournament. Samson missed out on a few matches due to an injury. Samson played nine matches for the Rajasthan Royals in the IPL 2025 edition, scoring 285 runs, with his highest score being 66 against SunRisers Hyderabad at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium. He started off the tournament by playing as an impact sub. When he made his return as the captain, he suffered a side strain and this led to him missing five games for the franchise.
