Sanju Samson, the captain of the Rajasthan Royals, has reportedly sought to be released from the organization ahead of the IPL 2026 auctions. This was reported by Cricbuzz, ESPNCricinfo, and Indian Express on Thursday (August 7).  

A day after it was reported that Samson wanted to leave the Rajasthan Royals, the Indian Express reported that the Chennai Super Kings, the five-time IPL champions, are interested in signing Samson. In reality, when IPL 2025 concluded, Samson traveled to the United States to meet with CSK management and head coach Stephen Fleming.

Now Indian Express has reported that while CSK preferred an all-cash deal to bring in Sanju Samson into the fold, RR wants two players from CSK in exchange for Samson.

“It is understood that Chennai is 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 Indian Express reported.

Samson is being courted by the Chennai Super Kings and the three-time IPL champion Kolkata Knight Riders, but "Samson seems keen on making a move to Chennai for multiple reasons."

Samson used to be connected to KKR. He was a member of the Gautam Gambhir-led team that won the 2012 Indian Premier League, but he was not given the opportunity to play for the Shah Rukh Khan-owned team.

“According to those in the know, the chances of Samson entering the auctions are highly likely at this stage if both Rajasthan and Chennai don’t reach an agreement," the report added.

Samson has played 177 games for the Delhi Capitals (previously the Delhi Daredevils) and Rajasthan Royals since making his IPL debut in 2013. He has amassed 4704 runs throughout that time.

Under his leadership, the Rajasthan Royals made it to the 2022 IPL final. The 30-year-old right-handed wicketkeeper-batter has amassed three hundreds and twenty-six fifties in the world's most lucrative franchise cricket competition.

In 67 IPL games thus far, Samson has led RR and won 33 of them. The Jaipur-based team paid Rs 18 crore to keep him before the IPL 2025 big auction.