CSK to exchange Ashwin, dube to RR for Sanju Samson in IPL 2026?

In what could be a couple of big decisions, chennai Super Kings could potentially trade Ravichandran Ashwin and Shivam Dube for Sanju Samson ahead of IPL 2026. Earlier this month, the Kerala keeper-batter’s agent liked a post linking his potential move to CSK on social media platform X. Now, another person has hinted at the possibility of Samson making his move – but at the cost of CSK trading two of their marquee players.

Samson to join CSK at cost of Ashwin, Dube?

Taking to social media platform X, Prasanna Aghoram, who is closely associated with Ashwin, has claimed that trade talks have begun between RR and CSK. He claimed that CSK were aiming at trading an Indian off-spinner and a left-handed middle-order batter for a top-order batsman.

The Indian off-spinner referred to by Prasanna could be none other than Ashwin. The veteran made his return to CSK after a span of 10 years when he was bought in the IPL 2025 mega auction. However, he failed to create any impact, finishing the season with just 7 wickets to his name from 9 matches.

Talking about the left-handed Indian middle-order batter, it could possibly be Shivam Dube. He has turned out to be CSK’s future stars in IPL and has been heavily relied upon in terms of getting runs via hitting maximums and boundaries. Dube managed to amass 357 runs in IPL 2025 from 14 games, averaging 32.45.

While the left-handed middle-order batter in question could also be Ravindra Jadeja, there are high chances that it could be Dube. Primarily because Jadeja has essayed the role of an all-rounder over the years while Dube has played as a pure batter.

Meanwhile, Sanju did not play a full season for RR in 2025. Parag replaced him as captain in seven games, some of them where the keeper-batter was struggling with an injury. Additionally, reports also claimed that there was a rift between Samson and Dravid which could force the latter to switch teams in the next edition. However, this was downplayed by the coach.