Sanju Samson and MS Dhoni NEW DELHI: Multiple IPL franchises have been tracking the conversations related to Sanju Samson ever since the glovesman expressed his desire to leave Rajasthan Royals (RR) after a seven-season association. Many enquired, most interacted, but months after chatter, negotiations and a lot of interest, Samson trade could well remain on Chennai Super Kings’ (CSK) table – a conversation which first happened months back. As TimesofIndia.com had reported on November 1, RR had reached out to CSK for a potential deal involving Ravindra Jadeja but there wasn’t any movement, and it remained on the backburner because Delhi Capitals (DC) and RR were actively involved in negotiations. The two parties were closing in on a swap involving Samson and Tristan Stubbs, and while there was an agreement of sorts on that, the dealbreaker, it is learnt, turned out to be the uncapped player demand by RR to go with Stubbs.
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RR demanded the services of Sameer Rizvi, and there was a lot of reluctance within the DC camp to let go of the player they see a lot of potential in. The Stubbs deal was so close to getting inked that it even reached the ears of senior players in the DC unit, and some prominent overseas names involved in the franchise. With the negotiations ending abruptly, RR, which had smartly kept other options active, knocked on CSK’s doors again. The five-time champions, meanwhile, are understood to have reached out to Jadeja during that period, to gauge his plans and what he had in mind. It’s understood that they gave their sharpest administrator the responsibility of doing the tough talk with Jadeja and getting clarity on the future. It is worth noting that this wasn’t the first time RR and CSK were engaging on the Samson trade, but this time, there was a lot of intent. That intent came from the fact that active negotiations and conversations with other franchises didn’t materialise into a trade, and that CSK remained the interested party. While the franchise CEO Kasi Viswanathan maintained that they are hopeful of seeing MS Dhoni back on the park in 2026, if the Samson deal materialises, that could change or reduce the appearances of the former captain. “We are extremely hopeful that he (MS Dhoni) will be playing the next season,” Kasi Viswanathan had told TimesofIndia.com.The IPL trade remains a fluid conversation, and it is not just a direct swap involving Jadeja and Samson but another CSK player. It could be either Matheesha Pathirana or Sam Curran as RR have been very proactive in extracting the most out of this transaction. Names of Dewald Brevis and Shivam Dube also came to the discussion table but were rejected by CSK. The next few days could provide more clarity on the matter, but as of now, the DC deal is off, and Samson either goes to CSK or back to the auction pool.
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