Image: Teams have started to discuss the strategic moves for the next season / © Inside Sport
The Indian Premier League 2025 season didn’t go as expected for the Chennai Super Kings and its fans. First, their captain, Ruturaj Gaikwad, got injured in the initial phases of the tournament, and later the team was not able to perform well in most of the matches.
One of the main issues with the Chennai Super Kings in the previous season was its batting line-up, as it was filled with inexperienced players, while some of them got rested due to injuries. However, what’s done is done, as the Chennai Super Kings is now focused on IPL 2026.
For this, the team management has reportedly started to have talks with Rajasthan Royals to get Sanju Samson to their line-up. If this trade takes place, it will help Chennai Super Kings to a great extent, adding more depth to the team’s batting line-up for the next season. Let’s take a look at the list of reasons why Chennai is keen to get Sanju Samson in IPL 2026.
Sanju Samson is being seen by the Chennai management as the ideal replacement for Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Captain Cool is already standing at the edge of his retirement, and is expected to play just a few more seasons for the team. It can’t be predicted when he could step up for retirement.
In the previous season, when Ruturaj Gaikwad got injured, the team had to go back to Mahendra Singh Dhoni to take up the captaincy. And it only made things worse for the team, as they ended up losing more games finishing at the last spot in the standings.
Although they were able to end the tournament on a positive note, with wins against Gujarat Titans and Kolkata Knight Riders. MS Dhoni again showcased why he is the greatest captain but the team management is keen to look forward to the long-term options, and he is surely not among one of them.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni has only played for Chennai Super Kings, representing the team in all of its IPL seasons. But with his retirement coming closer, the team is looking forward to a player who could be a wicket-keeper, contribute runs to the top-order, and even help in making strategic decisions.
Ruturaj Gaikwad will surely be leading the side in the IPL 2026 season, but Dhoni can’t be looked at as an alternative captain like it took place in the current season. For this, Sanju Samson comes in as the best possible replacement for the team, as he holds the potential to score runs, keep the wickets, and even make strategic decisions as a captain when needed.
Sanju Samson is currently a part of Rajasthan Royals, and has captained the team in 59 matches, winning 30 of them. His captaincy records may not be as good as Dhoni, but the new star has an opportunity to prove his worth to the team and be a part of Chennai in the next season.
Sanju Samson in the T20I format, holds better form when he plays at number 3 or first down position. One of the major issues faced by Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2025 was related to its batting order, which was having some inexperienced players due to injury issues. Rachin Ravindra and Devon Conway were unavailable for majority of the games.
However, considering it as a blessing in disguise, the team also got an explosive opener in the form of Ayush Mhatre, who came in as a replacement for Ruturaj Gaikwad. Now with his impressive performances, it seems that he will now be a permanent part of the team in the upcoming season.
With Ayush Mhatre opening for the team along with the skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad, they will be able to give them a solid start. Both batsmen surely like to play aggressive, and they will be able to utilise the power play well. As we all know, Gaikwad also plays well as an opener for the team in both IPL and international matches.
At number 3, they will have the much needed experience of Sanju Samson, who has surely dominated at this spot. Although he has played most of the matches at this spot, in a few matches he also played as an opener, being a possible replacement if any of the team’s openers is unavailable to play.
While batting at number 3, Sanju Samson holds impressive records as he has scored 3034 runs in 92 innings at an average of 38.40 and a strike rate of 143.33, with 20 centuries and 3 half-centuries. Having scored a good amount of runs at this spot, Samson could be the best option for the team at number 3, which could help them to score more runs in the powerplay even if any one of the openers fail to perform.
So the inclusion of Sanju Samson to the line-up will be helpful to Chennai Super Kings not only in one but many ways. The openers, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Ayush Mhatre will be able to provide an aggressive start to the team, and if any one of them loses the wicket, Sanju Samson will be able to step up and continue the run scoring momentum for the team.
This will also be followed by even more aggressive batsmen such as Dewald Brevis, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni, and more. It will be enough for the team to rattle down any of the bowling units which comes against them, and post big totals down the chart.
It is not just that Chennai Super Kings is in need of Sanju Samson, as reportedly, Samson is having some tensions between him and the management of Rajasthan Royals. This means both parties could meet each other’s needs, and it will come out to be helpful for Sanju Samson and Chennai Super Kings.
There have been rifts between Rajasthan Royals management and Sanju Samson, which was also clearly visible in the IPL 2025 season. In some videos and photos, it was seen that while the team’s Head Coach Rahul Dravid was having a discussion, Sanju Samson, who was the captain of the team, was left out of the same, and this made the fans and media speculate about a rift.
During the India versus England T20I series which was played earlier in 2025, Sanju Samson suffered from a finger injury. Due to this reason, he was not a part of the main line-up of Rajasthan Royals in the initial matches and was used as an impact player. In his place, the team had Riyan Parag as the stand-in captain, but Samson returned after 4 games as an impact player.
With this, it was also being reported that the tensions between Sanju Samson and Rajasthan Royals management started from the IPL retention and auction. The team released important players like Trent Boult and Jos Buttler, who were among their key performers in the majority of the seasons. Even in IPL 2022, Sanju Samson led the team to the final, where these players played a crucial role.
The departure of Buttler from the line-up seemed to be an emotional moment for him, as he also said that Buttler is one of his closest friends in the team’s locker room. Such statements also helped Samson to get the backing from the fans, who also seemed unhappy when Buttler and Boult were released from the team.
Along with that, in IPL 2025, it was also reported that there was an internal dispute between Rahul Dravid and Sanju Samson based on their philosophies. Sanju Samson wanted to have an immediate impact to improve the team’s position in the current season, while Rahul Dravid aimed for long-term options. However, Rahul Dravid later pulled off all the allegations of a rift, saying that everything is perfect in the dressing room.
Although Sanju Samson returned as a captain for a few games in IPL 2025, it was still not enough to help the team enhance its position. Due to this reason, they finished at the 9th spot in the standings, which was their worst since IPL 2022, where they reached the finals.
Some fans also say that in the absence of Sanju Samson, the team showcased dull energy and it resulted in them losing games where they could have won with ease. On the other hand, a few of them also believe that the rumours between Dravid and Samson’s rift are true, due to which he might be looking forward to a new team.
And Chennai Super Kings seems to have taken the advantage of this moment, which will help them to get Sanju Samson to their line-up. But the question remains is whether the deal will be confirmed or a new team will jump into the same?