CSK's Sanju Samson trade signals transition away from MS Dhoni
What's the story
Chennai Super Kings, the five-time Indian Premier League champions, have assembled a roster featuring a mix of youngsters for the 2026 season. They gave massive deals to the uncapped Prashant Veer and Kartik Sharma at the IPL 2026 mini-auction in Abu Dhabi. This comes after the Yellow Army traded in Sanju Samson from Rajasthan Royals. CSK's head coach, Stephen Fleming, at the auction, said that succession planning was a major reason behind their decision to acquire Samson.
Strategic move
'At some point, MS will move on'
While CSK required a solid top-order dasher, Fleming also stressed the need to fill in for MS Dhoni. The legendary wicketkeeper-batter will likely retire after the impending season. He said, "We felt we were still a little bit light in our opening batting. And we were also looking at the fact that at some point, MS will move on."
Future focus
CSK's approach to succession planning
Fleming explained that CSK sees Samson as a unique opportunity to bring in an established, international-quality wicketkeeper-batter who can fill the leadership void when needed. He said, "Sanju is an international-quality player, and he fills that role very well." The coach emphasized that this move is not just about succession planning but also about refreshing the team for its future vision over six years, not just two.
Availability
Will Dhoni play full season?
Dhoni, the most successful IPL captain, started his journey with CSK in 2008 and has led them to five titles. In the impending season, he could pick his games, with CSK possibly handing over wicketkeeping duties to Samson to ease his workload. In 2025, Ruturaj Gaikwad was ruled out midway through the tournament with an injury. Dhoni stepped in as the stand-in skipper but couldn't change CSK's fortunes as they finished at the bottom of the table.
New direction
CSK's shift in auction strategy
Fleming also highlighted how CSK were "a little bit slow" to evolve with T20 cricket. The shift in philosophy was also seen in their auction strategy. "As the game has evolved, we might have been a little bit slow to evolve with it," Fleming said. "Only halfway through the [2025] tournament, we had a big shift, and you saw with the players we got in as reserves."
Squad
Squad for IPL 2026
CSK had the second-biggest purse (₹43.40 crore), entering the IPL 2026 auction. Final squad: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Dewald Brevis, Ayush Mhatre, Sarfaraz Khan, Matt Short, Sanju Samson, MS Dhoni, Urvil Patel, Kartik, Shivam Dube, Zak Foulkes, Ramakrishna Ghosh, Shreyas Gopal, Jamie Overton, Akeal Hosein, Aman Khan, Veer, Noor Ahmad, Rahul Chahar, Khaleel Ahmed, Nathan Ellis, Matt Henry, Gurjapneet Singh, Anshul Kamboj, and Mukesh Choudhary.