Sanju Samson set to stay with Rajasthan Royals for IPL 2026 despite CSK, KKR transfer buzz

Sanju Samson is set to stay with the Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2026, and the question marks over a potential trade to either the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) or, perhaps, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) can be put to bed once and for all. The franchise has no intention of transferring their star wicketkeeper-batter, and he remains an important part of their plans moving forward.

There was a lot of commotion on social media during the IPL trade window, which began to grow rapidly after the Rajasthan Royals' disappointing 2025 campaign. This noise was added due to the fact that Samson missed a lot of the season due to injury and only played nine matches, hitting 285 runs, with the only fifty being a dubious fifty. Not helping matters was that Rajasthan finished ninth on the table, and junior teammate Vaibhav Suryavanshi had a strong season on debut, which led to speculation that a leadership change could be imminent.

However, a source close to the franchise has dismissed these reports, saying, “RR has decided not to trade Samson or any of their players for now. Samson is very much a part of the Royals' set-up and the undisputed captain of the team.” This statement comes amid reports that CSK, who also had a dismal 2025 season, were looking to bring in Samson as a long-term replacement in their leadership group.

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Samju Samson Dismisses Transfer Speculation, Set to Lead RR as Captain in IPL 2026

Samson's response to the speculation was minimal but spoke volumes. "Onnum parayanilla" was the simple answer from the 30-year-old when asked about possibly signing with CSK. Translated from Malayalam, this means "I have nothing to say."

Samson has a long history with the Royals, having first signed with them in 2013. Apart from the 2 seasons that RR were suspended (2016-17), he has remained loyal to them and has scored over 4000 runs in the pink uniform. Now that this has been cleared up, all RR fans can hope to see their captain lead them into the battle yet again in 2026, and hopefully, both Samson and the team will rebound from a disappointing season last year.