Rajasthan Royals owner finally reveals the reason behind Sanju Samson’s exit from RR

Rajasthan Royals owner Manoj Badale has opened up on the reason behind Sanju Samson, leaving the RR franchise ahead of the IPL 2026 season. For the unversed, Samson has been traded to the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) ahead of the last retentions deadline on Saturday, November 15.

Notably, Samson played for the Rajasthan Royals for a total of 12 seasons. He first joined the franchise in 2013 and was part of the team until 2015 before joining the Delhi Capitals for two seasons. Eventually, he returned to the Royals in 2018 and continued until 2025.

"The first time this year or in the past year that Sanju talked about moving on was probably in Kolkata towards the end of the season. We had a meeting after the game. He's a very honest guy, and he was personally, emotionally drained. He cares a huge amount about RR, and I think having our worst season in 18 years took a lot out of him," said Badale in a video posted by RR.

"I think he just felt that, having given the best part of 14 years with a break to RR, he wanted just a new chapter to refresh the end of his journey with the IPL. In the case of Sanju, when he made the request, I think it felt different for us. A, because he's a very authentic man, and if he says something, he generally means it. He's been an extraordinary servant of the franchise for 14 years. It's not just the batting that the fans see or the sixes that the fans see; it's everything else he's put into it," he added.

"While there's been a sort of media narrative of Rajasthan Royals are in chaos, people leaving, Rahul leaving, the reality is that's not how it's felt internally. Internally, we committed to a process and a timeline. We're maybe one week later than we hope to be, or maybe two weeks later, but it all feels very calm here," said Badale.

"But when you put a player of the stature of Sanju Samson, everyone's interested. We have a whole group of people who are evaluating every trade option that was presented to us, and you know, we would meet as a group regularly, but my role was to lead the discussions, not to make decisions," he concluded.

Speaking about his IPL numbers, Samson has played a total of 177 games, amassing 4704 runs at an average of 30.94 with three centuries and 26 half-centuries. CSK would be the third franchise for the keeper-batter in his IPL career.

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