Aakash Chopra

Former Indian cricketer and commentator Aakash Chopra has speculated that the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) could be the frontrunners to sign Sanju Samson if the Rajasthan Royals (RR) decide to release their star player ahead of the IPL 2026 auction. Chopra pointed out that KKR currently lacks a reliable Indian wicketkeeper-batter and a potential captain, making Samson an ideal fit. He further suggested that the team could free up the required budget by releasing Venkatesh Iyer.

Aakash Chopra Backs KKR to Sign Sanju Samson if Released by Rajasthan Royals

Aakash Chopra highlighted the challenges KKR faced during the IPL 2025 season, where they did not have a recognised Indian wicketkeeper-batter, relying instead on overseas players like Quinton de Kock and Rahmanullah Gurbaz. The departure of Phil Salt to Royal Challengers Bangalore before the season further limited their options.

β€œπ‘»π’‰π’† π’‡π’Šπ’“π’”π’• π’π’‚π’Žπ’† 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 π’„π’π’Žπ’†π’” 𝒕𝒐 π’Žπ’š π’Žπ’Šπ’π’… π’Šπ’” 𝒏𝒐𝒕 π‘ͺ𝑺𝑲. 𝑲𝑲𝑹 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒃𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 π’Žπ’π’”π’• 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆 π’•π’†π’‚π’Ž. 𝑲𝑲𝑹 𝒅𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒂𝒏 π‘°π’π’…π’Šπ’‚π’ π’˜π’Šπ’„π’Œπ’†π’•π’Œπ’†π’†π’‘π’†π’“-𝒃𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 π’•π’Šπ’†π’” π’•π’‰π’†π’Šπ’“ 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒔 π’ƒπ’†π’‰π’Šπ’π’… π’•π’‰π’†π’Šπ’“ π’ƒπ’‚π’„π’Œ,” π‘ͺ𝒉𝒐𝒑𝒓𝒂 π’”π’‚π’Šπ’… 𝒐𝒏 π’‰π’Šπ’” 𝒀𝒐𝒖𝑻𝒖𝒃𝒆 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒍.

β€œπ‘Ίπ’†π’„π’π’π’…π’π’š, π’˜π’‰π’‚π’•’𝒔 π’˜π’“π’π’π’ˆ π’Šπ’‡ π’šπ’π’– π’ˆπ’†π’• 𝒂 π’„π’‚π’‘π’•π’‚π’Šπ’? 𝑰 π’‚π’Ž 𝒏𝒐𝒕 π’…π’†π’π’šπ’Šπ’π’ˆ π‘¨π’‹π’Šπ’π’Œπ’šπ’‚ 𝑹𝒂𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒔 π’„π’‚π’‘π’•π’‚π’Šπ’π’†π’… π’˜π’†π’π’ 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒓𝒖𝒏𝒔, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒃𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓, π’‰π’Šπ’” 𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒕 π’Šπ’ 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒂 π’ƒπ’Šπ’• 𝒐𝒇 𝒂 π’‘π’“π’π’ƒπ’π’†π’Ž. π‘»π’‰π’†π’š 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒆 π‘½π’†π’π’Œπ’‚π’•π’†π’”π’‰ π‘°π’šπ’†π’“ 𝒕𝒐 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆 𝒖𝒑 π’π’†π’‚π’“π’π’š β‚Ή24 𝒄𝒓𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 π’Žπ’‚π’Œπ’† 𝒂 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍 π’…π’Šπ’‡π’‡π’†π’“π’†π’π’„π’†.”

Why Is Sanju Samson Considering Leaving Rajasthan Royals?

Aakash Chopra also reflected on Samson’s surprising decision to request a release, given his long-standing association with the Jaipur-based franchise. Samson has been with RR since his IPL debut in 2013, except during the two years when the franchise was banned in 2016 and 2017. Chopra believes the emergence of young opener Vaibhav Suryavanshi as a stable partner to Yashasvi Jaiswal could be influencing Samson’s thoughts.

β€œπ‘Ύπ’‰π’š π’˜π’π’–π’π’… 𝑺𝒂𝒏𝒋𝒖 π‘Ίπ’‚π’Žπ’”π’π’ π’˜π’‚π’π’• 𝒕𝒐 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒆? 𝑰𝒕’𝒔 π’Šπ’π’•π’†π’“π’†π’”π’•π’Šπ’π’ˆ 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 π’˜π’‰π’†π’ 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒕 π’Žπ’†π’ˆπ’‚ π’‚π’–π’„π’•π’Šπ’π’ 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒅, 𝑹𝒂𝒋𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 π‘Ήπ’π’šπ’‚π’π’” 𝒍𝒆𝒕 𝑱𝒐𝒔 𝑩𝒖𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆𝒓 π’ˆπ’ 𝒕𝒐 π’Žπ’‚π’Œπ’† π’“π’π’π’Ž 𝒇𝒐𝒓 π‘Ίπ’‚π’Žπ’”π’π’ 𝒕𝒐 𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 π’Šπ’π’π’Šπ’π’ˆπ’”. 𝑺𝒂𝒏𝒋𝒖 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑹𝑹 π’˜π’†π’“π’† π’“π’†π’‚π’π’π’š π’•π’‰π’Šπ’„π’Œ,” π‘ͺ𝒉𝒐𝒑𝒓𝒂 π’†π’™π’‘π’π’‚π’Šπ’π’†π’….

β€œπ‘΅π’π’˜, π‘½π’‚π’Šπ’ƒπ’‰π’‚π’— π‘Ίπ’–π’“π’šπ’‚π’—π’‚π’π’”π’‰π’Š 𝒉𝒂𝒔 π’„π’π’Žπ’† π’Šπ’, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 π’•π’˜π’ 𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒕. π‘»π’‰π’†π’š 𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒐 π’˜π’‚π’π’• 𝒕𝒐 π’‘π’“π’π’Žπ’π’•π’† 𝑫𝒉𝒓𝒖𝒗 𝑱𝒖𝒓𝒆𝒍 𝒖𝒑 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒓. 𝑰𝒇 𝑺𝒂𝒏𝒋𝒖 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆’𝒔 𝒏𝒐 𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓 π’‰π’Šπ’Ž, π’Šπ’• π’Žπ’Šπ’ˆπ’‰π’• π’†π’™π’‘π’π’‚π’Šπ’ π’‰π’Šπ’” π’˜π’Šπ’”π’‰ 𝒕𝒐 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒆. 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒋𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆𝒔, π’•π’‰π’π’–π’ˆπ’‰β€”π‘° 𝒅𝒐𝒏’𝒕 π’Œπ’π’π’˜ π’˜π’‰π’‚π’•β€™π’” π’Šπ’ π’•π’‰π’†π’Šπ’“ π’Žπ’Šπ’π’…π’”.”

Reports suggest that the Rajasthan Royals are reluctant to trade Samson in a purely cash deal and would prefer a like-for-like player swap.

Also Read: Gilchrist or Dhoni? Alyssa Healy Reveals Her Wicketkeeping Mentor Choice

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