“He was personally and emotionally drained” - RR owner reveals the reason behind Sanju Samson’s exit from the franchise

Rajasthan Royals owner Manoj Badale has revealed the actual reason behind their skipper Sanju Samson leaving the franchise ahead of the IPL 2026 season. Notably, Samson has been traded to the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) ahead of the mini-auction. 

For the unversed, Samson played for the Royals for a total of 12 seasons. He first joined the franchise in 2013 and was part of it until 2015 before joining the Delhi Capitals for two seasons. Later, he returned to RR in 2018 and continued until 2025.

In an exclusive video with the Royals franchise, Manoj Baadale said that Samson decided to look for a change because of the mental and physical drain he had gone through at the Rajasthan Royals’ franchise. 

"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.

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