Sanju Samson: Ripples in the IPL begin as Chennai Super Kings angle for him in auctions

There are more than four months to go for the IPL 2026 mega auction in December, but the buzz has already gathered around Sanju Samson — India’s T20 wicketkeeper-opener and a long-serving captain of the Rajasthan Royals.

It all began with Samson’s recent request to the Royals to be either traded or released, both of which remains a prerogative of the concerned franchise, but he will be a hugely sought after name if the Kerala cricketer breaks out of the Pink Army camp.

While any auction strategy is a closely guarded secret in franchise cricket, the Chennai Super Kings’ management makes no bones about the fact that they would like to have Samson on board – apparently with an eye to a potential experienced Indian replacement for M.S. Dhoni behind the stumps.

However, there is also talk that the Kolkata Knight Riders, the 2024 champions who floundered last season, may also be interested in Samson as a potential captain.

‘’There’s no point in denying that we will go for someone like (Sanju) Samson if he is available in the auction, but there is no guarantee. Trading does not look an option as there is no potential candidate and, more importantly, Sanju’s current franchise has to be willing,’’ remarked Kasi Vishwanathan, the veteran CEO of CSK.

Media reports say that Manoj Badale, lead owner of the Royals, has been in negotiations with a number of franchises for a potential trade as serious differences have cropped up between Samson and the management over a number of issues.

A product of the Royals’ assembly line of producing youngsters, Samson was seen in a limited role during their 2025 campaign – with a finger injury not really helping things. There have been reports that the move of the captaincy being handed to Riyan Parag in Samson’s absence did not go down well with the later. Parag, a rare homegrown product of Assam – the base of one of their influential owners – could not initiate much difference as the 2022 runners-up finished in ninth position in the table.

Speaking to the National Herald over phone, Kasi said it’s still early days to foresee how things will shape up for the next season. ‘’We have taken stock after finishing at the bottom of the table and will certainly rebuild the squad,’’ the veteran administrator said, while adding that he was not in a position to comment on Dhoni’s availability as a player yet. ‘’It’s him who decides on what he wants to do next year,’’ was his refrain.

KKR, meanwhile, is expected to zero in on Samson as they need a strong Indian name as captain after releasing the prolific Shreyas Iyer after a successful 2024 season. The choice of Ajinkya Rahane as a leader appeared almost as an afterthought as the IPL has not seen too many cases when a player - picked on the second day of the auction (for a base price of Rs 1 crore) - has gone on to become the captain. There is credible information that they could release the under achieving vice-captain Venkatesh Iyer, on whom the Shah Rukh Khan-owned franchise had shelled out Rs 23.75 crores, which should provide the additional purse to chase Samson.

Meanwhile, the CSK management has been alleged to have offered more money than the player being replaced in IPL 2025 for roping in Dewald Brevis, the South African Baby AB who has become the flavour of international cricket with a blazing century against Australia in a recent T20 International. Coming from none less than Ravi Ashwin, a dyed-in-the-wool Chennai man in his Youtube channel, the charges in his YouTube channel expectedly gathered a lot of eyeballs.

Asked about the subject, Kasi presented a straight bat: ‘’Dewald has been an exciting talent whom we had been following since his exploits in the Under-19 World Cup. He had been sitting unsold after the auction and we went for him as we needed more firepower in batting.’’ Despite a late entry, Brevis shone with 225 runs at an average of 37.50 and is likely to be retained by the yellow shirts for Rs 2.2 crores, the same official price tag of last season.