Sanju Samson was ‘personally, emotionally drained’ at Rajasthan Royals, expressed desire to leave in Kolkata

Rajasthan Royals owner Manoj Badale explains the circumstances which led to Sanju Samson asking to be released from the franchise.

Sanju Samson, who was with Rajasthan Royals for several years, even leading the franchise to the final of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 edition, will no longer wear the pink jersey as his trade to the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) has been confirmed. CSK and the Royals completed a swap deal, which saw Samson moving to the five-time champions, while the latter acquired the services of Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran.

Sanju Samson has joined CSK after leaving the Rajasthan Royals.

Samson joined CSK for INR 18 crore while Jadeja and Curran were roped in by the Royals for INR 14 and INR 2.40 crore, respectively. After finalising the retention list for the upcoming edition of the tournament, Royals owner Manoj Badale explained the circumstances which led to the wicketkeeper-batter asking for his release from the franchise.

It is worth mentioning that Samson didn't play all the IPL 2025 games due to injury, and Riyan Parag led the side in the matches where he wasn't available. There were also rumours that a rift existed between Samson and the head coach, Rahul Dravid, which was denied by the latter during the season. However, both Dravid and Samson will not be with the Royals moving ahead.

Badale revealed that Samson was emotionally drained during the IPL 2025 season, and the duo had an honest conversation in Kolkata, where the player from Kerala confided in him about his desire to join another franchise.

“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.

“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.

‘We are committed to a process’

Earlier this year, when Rahul Dravid stepped down as the head coach, there was speculation that something was amiss within the Royals' setup; however, Badale dispelled this myth, stating that the franchise has always been committed to a process.

“While there's been a sort of media narrative of Rajasthan Rules 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.

Samson spent 11 years at the Royals, scoring 4,027 runs. His career-best season came in the 2024 edition, where he hammered 531 runs.

Speaking of the Royals' retention list, the franchise released the two Sri Lankan spinners, Wanindu Hasaranga and Maheesh Theekshana.

RR's retained players list: Dhruv Jurel, Donovan Ferreira (traded), Jofra Archer, Kwena Maphaka, Lhuan-Dre Pretorious, Nandre Burger, Ravindra Jadeja (traded), Riyan Parag, Sam Curran (traded), Sandeep Sharma, Shimron Hetmyer, Shubham Dubey, Tushar Deshpande, Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Yashaswi Jaiswal, Yudhvir Charak.

Released players: Akash Madhwal, Ashok Sharma, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Kumar Kartikeya, Kunal Rathore, Maheesh Theekshana, and Wanindu Hasaranga.