Rajasthan Royals owner exposes Sanju Samson, reveals why he was desperate to join CSK
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The Rajasthan Royals owner, Manoj Badale, has made a massive revelation on the real reason behind Sanju Samson's exit from the franchise. He revealed that the decision was loaded and made rounds in the RR camp since the end of IPL 2025.
The Rajasthan Royals and the Chennai Super Kings have announced their final team retentions ahead of the upcoming mini-auction. Rajasthan Royals released their captain, Sanju Samson, in the form of a trade.
Ravindra Jadeja was traded in from the Chennai Super Kings to the Rajasthan Royals, as the veteran all-rounder joins his former franchise after a long time since 2009. The move between the two franchises was finalized on the same day when they released their official franchise list.
Sanju Samson's exit was planned in Kolkata last season
The trade has been making headlines since the Rajasthan Royals finished in the no. 9 position in the IPL Points Table. RR owner Manoj Badale has now explained what led them to the release of the franchise skipper.
"The first time this year or in the past year that Sanju talked about moving on was probably in Kolkata towards the end of the season. We had a meeting after the game. He's a very honest guy, and he was personally, emotionally drained. He cares a huge amount about RR, and I think having our worst season in 18 years took a lot out of him," said Badale in a video posted on the official handle of Rajasthan Royals.
Badale mentioned that it was the match against the Kolkata Knight Riders towards the end of the last season. He revealed that the wicket-keeper decided to look for a change due to mental and physical turmoil at RR.
"I think he just felt that, having given the best part of 14 years with a break to RR, he wanted just a new chapter to refresh the end of his journey with the IPL. In the case of Sanju, when he made the request, I think it felt different for us. A, because he's a very authentic man, and if he says something, he generally means it. He's been an extraordinary servant of the franchise for 14 years. It's not just the batting that the fans see or the sixes that the fans see; it's everything else he's put into it," he added.
While there's been a sort of media narrative of Rajasthan Royals are in chaos - Manoj Badale
Sanju Samson has played for the Rajasthan Royals in two stints, first in 2013 for the Royals when he made his debut, and then moved to the Delhi Daredevils in 2016 and 2017. He returned to Royals camp in 2018 and has been flawless. He took over the captaincy in 2021 and led them to two knockouts and a final in 2022.
He further mentioned that the franchise is not in a state of chaos.
"While there's been a sort of media narrative of Rajasthan Royals are in chaos, people leaving, Rahul leaving, the reality is that's not how it's felt internally. Internally, we committed to a process and a timeline. We're maybe one week later than we hope to be, or maybe two weeks later, but it all feels very calm here," said Badale.
"But when you put a player of the stature of Sanju Samson, everyone's interested. We have a whole group of people who are evaluating every trade option that was presented to us, and you know, we would meet as a group regularly, but my role was to lead the discussions, not to make decisions," he added.
Is Sanju Samson in the captaincy race at CSK?
Sanju Samson, the batter who moved from the Royals to the Chennai Super Kings, will not be seen in a captaincy role. The CSK team had already revealed that captaincy is never an option considered for anyone else than Ruturaj Gaikwad.
Ruturaj Gaikwad is playing a stunning hand for Maharashtra currently and is expected to be available for an entire season in 2026. He was ruled out mid-season during IPL 2025, and MS Dhoni took over captaincy in his absence.
