As per the latest reports, Rajasthan Royals are trading their star captain Sanju Samson to Delhi Capitals, in return, Tristan Stubbs could move to RR. Sanju Samson has started his career with Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and he has been the face of the franchise for many seasons. Sanju has been their best batter and one of the consistent performers.
Things are not good in Rajasthan Royals, earlier some of the key management persons left the franchise and Sanju Samson will be traded with another franchise as he wants to exit from the franchise. It is going to be a massive career move for Sanju and it is expected that he will be the captain of Delhi Capitals.
Why is this Trade Big?
The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 retention deadline is just a couple of days away, and every franchise is currently finalising their core team before submitting the final list to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
Sanju Samson has been leading Rajasthan Royals for a long time and all of sudden, he is leaving the franchise, which clearly shows things are not right in RR’s camp. Sanju has been the face of RR and he is a big figure when it comes to IPL.
On the other hand, Delhi Capitals were looking for strong leadership and stable-to-order batter for IPL 2026. DC struggled a lot in the past few seasons and they need a leader who can guide the team in a direction and Sanju Samson clearly fits their all criteria.
Tristan Stubbs is a young South African batter and he has great potential. Rajasthan may see Stubbs as a long-term investment as they are rebuilding their squad. IPL Trades involving captains are extremely rare, most trades are around uncapped players, backups or players who have not got enough chances.
Impact on IPL 2026:
This trade will be a hot topic before the IPL 2026 mini-auction. Both Samson and Stubbs have different strengths however, Delhi Capitals now look more stronger on paper whereas Rajasthan Royals will need to build a balanced squad ahead of the IPL 2026.
Delhi Capitals have plenty of star players, Sanju Samson, KL Rahul, Axar Patel and Faf du Plessis. The Addition of Sanju Samson in their team made Delhi Capitals batting unit more lethal and they are expected to play a different brand of cricket.
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