Sanju Samson formally requests Rajasthan Royals for trade or release ahead of IPL 2026: Report

Rajasthan Royals captain Sanju Samson has requested the management for a trade or release ahead of the Indian Premier League 2026. The keeper-batter reportedly fell out with the management, as his family even mentioned that the cricketer has no will to represent Rajasthan in the cash-rich league. Some of his teammates also confirmed it, as Cricbuzz reported. 

What is the reason behind Samson’s sudden change in his mindset? Well, it's all speculation now. However, the strong belief is that the Kerala cricketer isn’t happy with his batting position. Samson prefers to open in the shortest format of the game, but after an impressive show from Vaibhav Suryavanshi in IPL 2025, the captain was demoted to number 3.

It reportedly bothered Samson, who is also fighting for the opening spot in India’s T20I side. Thus, him batting at number three for Rajasthan will ruin his chances to feature in the



national team and for the same reason, he wants a fresh start.

Chennai Super Kings are one such franchise that's interested in trading Samson to the squad. However, the five-time champions do not have the funds to bring in the cricketer. To sign him, CSK will have to let go of any of their marquee players or release a bunch of players who warmed the bench last season or those ones failed to impress.

However, it won’t be an easy task. On top of that, it needs to be seen if Rajasthan end up releasing the player at all. Samson has a contract with Rajasthan till 2027, and he is vital for the batting unit. Even though the inaugural champions are reported to have reached out to multiple franchises for a potential trade, they are also looking for Samson’s potential replacement and whether or not they can sign him in the trading window. In case they find a suitable replacement, the process will be much simpler.