Kumar Sangakkara returns as RR boss ahead of the 2026 season, and the Sri Lankan great has said that the greatest trades are the ones in which teams walk away happy and sad at the same time.
Last season, Rajasthan Royals finished second in the IPL points table. After another poor season in the IPL, the Royals were forced to make some changes to the XI, sometimes even though they did not want to see players leave.
Former Lankan great and current RR boss Kumar Sangakkara revealed that the best business happens when both parties walk out with some happiness and some unhappiness. They intended for the same to happen in the historic trade between CSK and Rajasthan Royals.
The best business is one where both parties are happy, but also a little unhappy – Kumar Sangakkara
Chennai Super Kings were in dire need of a good wicketkeeper to secure their future after MS Dhoni’s retirement. He loved Sanju Samson very much and was ready to pay any price for it.
Eventually the trade happened, and Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran were traded to CSK in exchange for RR’s top-order batsman and wicketkeeper. But Samson had not won the World Cup for India then.
“The best trade is one where both parties are happy but also a little bit unhappy. It’s a great trade,” Kumar Sangakkara was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz.
However, Kumar Sangakkara said that neither did he get the best player in return, nor was Samson the best find for Chennai Super Kings, citing their age and CSK’s long-term plans not matching together.
“For them [CSK] They wanted the next generation leader, a ‘keeper and an amazing bat. So I think both sides walked away unhappy. That means it was a good trade for both parties,” he concluded with a smile.
Kumar Sangakkara reveals Donovan Ferreira trade was a tactical adjustment
Rajasthan Royals have swapped a big T20 all-rounder in the form of South African Donovan Ferreira in a trade with Delhi Capitals. Instead the Capitals wanted Nitish Rana to strengthen his spin-hitting ability in the middle stages.
Kumar Sangakkara claimed, “We had a middle-order issue in terms of how we maintained the pace and how we stayed ahead of the game and we had to be a little bit smarter in the way we dealt with spin and time the scoring through the middle.”
“We also needed to improve the depth a bit, so we had to make a trade. We had to trade Nitish Rana. It’s difficult to trade – a very good Indian player, but we had no option.
“We have to have death hitting ability. So now we have Donovan, we also have Shanaka who will strengthen the back order if needed,” he said.
Sangakkara admitted, “To be honest, we were very sad to see Sanju go.”
After losing their key batsman and playing under new captain Riyan Parag, what will be the Royals’ chances of a comeback? Sangakkara revealed that he was never happy with Samson’s departure.
Sangakkara admitted, “To be honest, we were very sad to see Sanju go.” “He has been an incredible player, leader, captain for us, I have gotten to know him very closely over the years, but it was inevitable that this was going to happen.
However, the coach revealed that he has got two very good players as replacements.
“I thought we’ve got two very good players; incredible legends of the game in Jaddu and Sam Curran [the other]Who has matured a lot. They really balance our team very well. Unfortunately Sam had to miss out due to injury,” he concluded.
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