News
Not CSK, Former India Batter Believes THIS Team Will Be Keen To Get Sanju Samson
Follow UsThe RR skipper has reportedly informed the franchise of his desire to leave
With Sanju Samson reportedly telling Rajasthan Royals (RR) that he wants to leave the franchise, many teams would certainly want to get their hands on one of Indian Premier League's (IPL) most exciting talents. There are many who believe that he should join Chennai Super Kings (CSK) with MS Dhoni nearing the end of his career.
However, former India batter Aakash Chopra thinks otherwise. He believes he would be a great fit at Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), who have been looking for a capable leader after they did not retain Shreyas Iyer, who led them to the title in 2024.
“The first name that comes to my mind is not CSK. KKR should be the most desperate team. KKR don’t have an Indian wicketkeeper-batter, and that just ties their hands behind their back. Secondly, what’s wrong if you get a captain? I am not denying that Ajinkya Rahane has captained well and has scored runs as well,” Chopra said on his YouTube channel.
“However, Ajinkya Rahane as a batter, either he opens or else the batting order, has been a bit of a problem. They have a player they can release as well. If they wish, they can release Venkatesh Iyer, free up nearly 24 crore, and then they can actually make a difference."
Chopra also looked to decode why Samson would want to leave RR, a franchise he has played for since 2018. “Why would Sanju Samson want to leave? It’s interesting because when the last mega auction happened, they let Jos Buttler go, and I felt they let Jos Buttler go because Yashasvi had come and Sanju wanted to open, and Sanju and Rajasthan Royals were really, really thick,” he said.
“I felt there would have been a massive input from Sanju in the players they retained or released. However, now it seems it might not have been there. Vaibhav Suryavanshi has come, so two openers are already ready, and you also want to bat Dhruv Jurel up the order. So Sanju wishes to leave. If he is thinking like that, it’s possible. These are conjectures. I don’t know what’s in his and Rajasthan’s minds."
RR have failed to make it through to the playoffs twice in the last three seasons. They made it to the final in 2022, but lost to Gujarat Titans (GT). Samson has scored over 4,000 runs for RR in the IPL, which includes two tons and 23 fifties.