RR owner reveals emotionally exhausted Sanju Samson asked for fresh start after tough season

Sanju Samson wanted to leave RR mid IPL 2025 season. (Photo: AP)

Rajasthan Royals (RR) owner Manoj Badale has revealed that Sanju Samson wanted to leave the franchise midway through IPL 2025 season. The 30-year-old has been traded to Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in exchange of Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran.

Samson endured a challenging season in 2025. He missed several matches due to injury and got only one half-century from nine innings. On the captaincy part, Samson had a season to forget as well as the Royals finished second last in the points table.

The​‍​‌‍​‍‌​‍​‌‍​‍‌ team struggled to generate energy through their play during the tournament in spite of their tries, which left Samson drained of mental energy. Following the narrow loss to the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in Kolkata, he shared with owner Manoj Badale that he was thinking of moving away from the franchise after the season was ​‍​‌‍​‍‌​‍​‌‍​‍‌over.

“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. He was personally and 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. Having given the best part of 14 years, with a short break, to RR, he felt he needed a new chapter to refresh the end of his IPL journey,” revealed Badale in a video shared by Rajasthan Royals on their YouTube channel.

“When Sanju made the request, it felt different for us because he’s a very authentic man; if he says something, he generally means it. He has been an extraordinary servant of the franchise for 14 years. It’s not just the batting or the sixes the fans see—it’s everything else he has put in. When we made the decision to make him captain, that was a high-risk move. He was a young and inexperienced captain, but he put everything into that role. There has been a lot of emotion from our fans and from the team that has grown up under Sanju. I feel emotional about it myself,” Badale added.