Indian wicketkeeper batsman Sanju Samson, who has been the talk of the town and also in the IPL trade window, celebrated his 31st birthday yesterday and he received many wishes on social media. Not only his fans but also the teams he plays for congratulated him, with one team being an exception.
Last year was a great year for the Indian wicketkeeper in international and domestic cricket. Samson looked impeccable in 2024 as he scored three T20I centuries for India in the same calendar year, and before that he had an excellent IPL season with 500+ runs for the first time.
However, his playing time with Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2025 was looking doubtful, with the Royals keeping him out of many games and using him as cover to bench him at the slightest injury. By the end of the season, they looked assured by new opening batsman Vaibhav Suryavanshi and emerging young captain Riyan Parag.
Sanju Samson hints at not liking CSK’s move with a cryptic Instagram story on his birthday
On November 11, Kerala-born cricketer Sanju Samson celebrated his 31st birthday and he received wishes from his family, fans, loved ones and all across the cricket community.
The two IPL teams that have been linked to Samson so far, Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals, each put out a social media post with good wishes about the Indian star.
However, what caught the attention of many people on social media was that Sanju himself mentioned the posts of Rajasthan Royals and the Indian cricket team in his story on Instagram, but left out CSK’s post.
just saying :-
Sanju has posted RR and ICT in his story, not CSK. pic.twitter.com/33wpN7xvW1– Grok7_CSK (@Grok7CSK) 11 November 2025
Sanju Samson’s deal gets a blow due to RR lacking overseas slot
The Sanju Samson and Ravindra Jadeja swap deal between Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals has seen a major letdown in the form of England all-rounder Sam Curran who is also a part of the deal.
Rajasthan Royals do not have any overseas slots left, as they have filled all 8 players; However, they did not play all these players in a single game last season. With so many useless fast bowlers in the team, they may release a few to fit Curran, but there is another big hurdle.
The Jadeja-Samson deal is a clean swap with no monetary involvement, but Sam Curran is an all-cash deal with CSK. The English all-rounder is priced at Rs 2.4 crore, and the Royals only have Rs 30 lakh, so they need to release a player worth more than Rs 2 crore to get Curran in their side.
Where will Sanju Samson play in CSK XI?
If Sanju Samson’s move to CSK is finalized, then most likely he will open the innings with Ayush Mhatre and captain Ruturaj Gaikwad at number one. 3. Gaikwad has played many excellent innings in that position also.
Since Samson has been most effective only when opening the innings and young Mhatre, a dynamic young player is now looking for real chances, the captain is most likely to step down. In such circumstances, if Rachin Ravindra joins the CSK lineup, he will be ranked at no. 4 in the middle order.
Also read: Rajasthan Royals went crazy in CSK trade, bypassed IPL rules and then missed the blunder