Former Indian cricketer Subramaniam Badrinath believes Riyan Parag’s rising captaincy prospects at Rajasthan Royals could be behind Sanju Samson’s potential exit from the franchise. Samson missed the first three matches of IPL 2025 due to injury, during which Parag captained the team. Badrinath expressed his view on his YouTube channel:
"I feel Riyan Parag is the reason. If you consider him for captaincy, how do you expect someone like Samson to stay?"
Badrinath further discussed the possibility of Samson joining Chennai Super Kings (CSK), highlighting that while Samson could be a like-for-like replacement for MS Dhoni, fitting him into the current playing XI could be challenging.
"If Sanju Samson does come to CSK, then he could be the like-for-like replacement for MS Dhoni. Samson is a batter who can bat in the top three or four spots in the batting order. He is not someone who could fit in the number five or six spot in the playing XI. CSK are strong in those areas of the playing XI. Mhatre is settled, Gaikwad is settled, Brevis is settled."
"I am not sure if CSK would do a transaction like MI did to get Hardik Pandya from GT. So even if Sanju Samson comes in, the question remains whether CSK can fit him into the playing XI," he added.
Badrinath also addressed the captaincy scenario at CSK, noting that with the franchise’s investment in Ruturaj Gaikwad as captain, handing over leadership to Samson would be unlikely.
"The other aspect to consider is captaincy. Whether MS Dhoni leads or not, Ruturaj Gaikwad is the captain. He's led only for one season. If you give the captaincy to Samson, how would Gaikwad feel about that? That is something we need to consider."
Badrinath concluded by saying:"I think keeping all these things in mind, CSK are still thinking of whether or not to go ahead."
