Sanju Samson looks to exit Rajasthan Royals; CSK ears prick up

Ahead of the Indian Premier League auctions, Rajasthan Royals find themselves in a catch-22 situation after their captain Sanju Samson has expressed his desire to part ways with the franchise. The big dilemma in front of the franchise now is whether to accept Samson’s request and release him back into the auction pool or indulge in a trade.

Having retained him last year before the big player auctions, Rajasthan can still hold onto the player for the next two seasons, but The Indian Express understands that for the status quo to continue both the player and the franchise have to bury a few differences. If Rajasthan refuse to release the player, then Samson will have no choice but to stay put as IPL rules bestow the power to the franchise, which has signed the player on a three-year agreement.

The development in the Rajasthan camp is being seen with keen interest from Chennai Super Kings, who have expressed their interest to sign the player. After the conclusion of the IPL, Samson even met with CSK management and head coach Stephen Fleming during the Major League Cricket season in US. It is understood that Chennai are open to the idea of bringing the 30-year-old to Chepauk through a trade deal via cash. But it has hit a roadblock, with Rajasthan preferring an exchange of two players from Chennai. The five-time champions as a CSK policy have traded players with other franchises. When they bought Robin Uthappa ahead of the 2021 season from Rajasthan it was an all-cash deal.

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Apart from CSK, it is understood that Kolkata Knight Riders, a franchise which is usually active in the transfer window, are also interested in the player as it is without a frontline Indian stumper. But Samson seems to be keen on making a move to Chennai for multiple reasons. The franchise had even tried to sign the player a season ago, but the negotiations never took off. This time, it could well turn out to be a waiting game with Rajasthan also exploring its options. With Yashasvi Jaiswal and Vaibhav Suryavanshi they have two openers at the top and even on the keeping front, have Dhruv Jurel in their ranks. The franchise is top-heavy at the moment and releasing Samson could open up other options for them to strengthen the middle-lower order. But having been a face of the franchise since 2013, it won’t be an easy decision as well.

According to those in the know, the chances of Samson entering the auctions is highly likely at this stage if both Rajasthan and Chennai don’t reach an agreement. Even if Rajasthan are keen on indulging a trade deal in exchange of another player with the franchise, Samson’s price (Rs 18 crore) means there are few options as most teams usually have marquee players at that cost.

Any move from Rajasthan would also have a reaction in the Chennai camp. If Samson enters the auction pool, then Chennai will have to release a few players to spend big on the player they seem totally intent on bringing.

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