A few months ago, reports claimed that the Rajasthan Royals’ captain, Sanju Samson, asked the franchise to release him ahead of the 2026 season of the Indian Premier League as he aims to enter the mini auction. It has been known that Samson made the decision immediately after the end of the previous season, when he couldn’t be part of the whole edition due to injury.

Now another report has arrived from Revsportz, which reckoned that Samson has been approached by the Delhi Capitals with the responsibility of leading the franchise for the new season. This discussion is known to have been made during the recent 2025 season of the Asia Cup in the United Arab Emirates. Last year, Axar Patel led Delhi, who missed out on the playoffs due to their poor second half of the tournament.

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If RR decides to release him, then they could still either trade him to another franchise or send him into the auction. According to the IPL contract, the final decision in this case will stay with the franchise, as it could be a player swap or an all-cash deal.

Watch: Sanju Samson offered Delhi Capitals’ captaincy for IPL 2026: Reports

The 30-year-old batter first played for the Royals in the three seasons from 2013 to 2015 before rejoining them in 2018. In between those, he was part of the Delhi side, which brings the old connection in the possible trade. He became the captain of the Rajasthan side in 2021 and led them to their first final since the maiden season in 2022.

🚨DELHI CAPITALS LOOKING SANJU SAMSON AS THEIR CAPTAIN IN IPL2026🚨
[ROHIT JUGLAN]
He Has Been One Of The Most Prominent Reporter In Recent Times. pic.twitter.com/HeVIcvNkKF

— Klassy¹ (@sinha7605) October 9, 2025

Samson was one of the six players to be retained by the franchise ahead of last year’s mega auction when his price was INR 18 crore ($2.14 million approx.). In case of the Kerala batter’s absence in the side for the new season, they can continue to be led by Riyan Parag, while Yashasvi Jaiswal can also come into the equation.

Samson had a decent season in the Asia Cup 2025 for India, where he had the new responsibility of batting in the middle order. He got one fifty in the event against Oman in Abu Dhabi.