Not sure where CSK will be able to fit in Sanju Samson: Badrinath

With multiple reports suggesting that Sanju Samson has officially requested Rajasthan Royals (RR) to either trade or release him, rumours of the RR skipper jumping ship to Chennai Super Kings (CSK) have spread like wildfire. 

A podcast involving Ravichandran Ashwin and Samson which was released two days back, where the former cracked jokes about a ‘trade’, has ended up adding fuel to the fire.

CSK trading Samson will be on par with MI getting back Hardik Pandya — if not bigger — but former CSK and India batter Subramaniam Badrinath is not quite sure how and where the Super Kings will be able to fit in the 30-year-old.

"Sanju Samson is a top three batter. He is not someone who will play down the order at No.5. But if you look at CSK's top-order currently, it's settled,” Badrinath said, speaking on his YouTube channel.

“Ruturaj is settled, Mhatre is settled, Brevis is also someone capable of playing in the top three or four. 

"Plus I'm not sure whether CSK will pay a huge sum for Samson like MI did for Hardik Pandya. There's a lot of confusion. It'll be great if Samson comes to CSK, but the question is, will CSK be able to fit him in?.”

Badrinath further wondered if trading Samson might not go down too well with incumbent captain Ruturaj Gaikwad, since Samson will be a direct threat to his captaincy.

"Plus there's the captaincy question as well. How will Ruturaj Gaikwad feel if you bring in Sanju Samson? I think these are the factors why CSK are hesitating,” he said.

Samson, overall, has made 155 appearances for Rajasthan Royals. He has led the team in 67 games, and captained RR to the IPL final in IPL 2022. Injury meant that he only played a total of 9 games in IPL 2025, with only 6 of those coming as captain.