Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings have wrapped up a headline-grabbing swap, Sanju Samson moving south to CSK with Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran travelling the other way. The paperwork was completed late on Friday, leaving each side with a very different look – and a little extra room in the salary purse.
The numbers first. Samson keeps his INR 18 crore price tag, Curran stays on INR 2.4 crore, while Jadeja’s wage has been trimmed from INR 18 crore to INR 14 crore after talks between the two franchises and the league’s financial team.
Samson leaves Jaipur after 11 seasons, five of them as captain. He made it clear after IPL 2025 that he fancied a new challenge and asked to be released. “Sometimes you need fresh air,” he said at the end of the campaign – words that pointed firmly towards today’s outcome.
Jadeja, meanwhile, is going back to his roots. He broke through with Rajasthan in the very first IPL back in 2008 and now returns as a far more complete cricketer, fresh from a decade at CSK – minus the two years when the club was suspended – and a brief, ill-fated stint as captain in 2022. “It feels a bit like coming home,” he told Star Sports last month when rumours of the move first surfaced.
Curran’s switch is less romantic but no less intriguing. The England all-rounder started at Punjab, starred briefly for CSK and will now operate under Kumar Sangakkara’s back-room team. One insider in the Royals camp summed it up neatly: “We wanted another seam-bowling all-rounder who can close out an innings. Sam fits.”
From a cricketing-balance angle the trade is unusual – a frontline keeper-batter for two all-rounders – yet both outfits believe they have filled gaps. CSK finally land a long-term successor to MS Dhoni behind the stumps, while Royals add lower-order muscle and Jadeja’s left-arm spin on home pitches that have taken turn in recent seasons.
There is, of course, risk on either side. Samson’s form dipped last year, Jadeja is 36 next birthday and Curran’s pace has been down since a back injury. Even so, each player arrives with motivation to spare and, in a league where comfort can be costly, that edge has its own value.
Squad lists must be finalised next month, so a flurry of smaller deals may follow, yet this one will take some topping.
