Jadeja in RR and Samson in yellow? The IPL braces for its most emotional shake-up yet

Sport is fickle. Sport is dynamic. Sport changes almost every second. But every once in a while, sportspeople come along, ensure continuity and become synonymous with what they are doing, where they are doing it, and when they are doing it.

Think Roger Federer and Wimbledon. Rafael Nadal and Roland Garros. Lionel Messi and FC Barcelona. Tom Brady and the New England Patriots. MS Dhoni and the Chennai Super Kings. Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors. The late great Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers.

These people, often, transcend eras and generations. Cherished by those watching in the flesh, adored by those enjoying a long-standing association with the said franchise/team/event, and reminisced by those who, in years’ time, will have been told tales of their legend. Or, in some cases, may have told the tale themselves.

The Indian Premier League (IPL) is no different. Such intertwining, such storylines, such affiliations, make the tournament what it is, and tempts people, year on year, to dip into it, feeling a sense of allegiance and belonging.

But when players who have been turning out for one team for so long, suddenly stop doing so, something also feels broken. The balance of the universe shifts, and things just do not feel normal anymore. And all of that may be felt, first-hand, by CSK and Rajasthan Royals fans.

Ravindra Jadeja and Sanju Samson, for more than a decade, have been a part of CSK and RR, respectively. A part of their furniture, as some would say. But from the 2026 iteration of the IPL, they may not represent the teams they represented a year ago.

Why Jadeja at RR makes sense

Jadeja, if reports are to be believed, is set to move back to where it all started for him in the big time, returning to the franchise where he won the first of his four IPL titles. For Samson, who is going the other way, it will be a step into the unknown. But an Indian wicket-keeper batter, hailing from a different part of the country, has done just fine for the Super Kings in the past.

From a cricketing perspective, it makes a lot of sense. Jadeja’s career is winding down and even if his fielding and his athleticism does not quite say so, his batting and especially his six-hitting numbers have come down, more so against spin. And in an era where mystery spin has become king and threatens to make finger-spin redundant, Jadeja’s classical (comparatively, of course) brand of bowling could very much be the outlier soon.

But Jadeja’s arrival, plus that of Sam Curran, could help solve multiple issues for RR, despite the perceived shortcomings. Since the mega auction prior to the 2022 season, RR have always been light on proper all-rounders. In Jadeja and Curran, they will get two players who can pull their weight via either suit, and on most days, pull their weight via both.

Both of these players will also provide invaluable trophy-winning experience, and that could be very handy at a franchise that has not tasted success since the inaugural edition, and houses a group of extremely talented but relatively inexperienced players.

Samson, meanwhile, is a genuine match-winner, who can tee off against pace and spin alike, and will feel there is a point to prove with his national spot hanging in the balance. There may also be the odd murmur that despite being around for more than a decade, he hasn’t quite fulfilled his entire potential yet, and is maybe just a rung below being truly world-class, despite his talent and stroke-play warranting that tag.

And CSK, over the years, have portrayed a penchant for helping players take that next big step in their careers. Not to mention that Samson is an Indian wicket-keeper batter, and the one CSK currently have, cannot play forever.

There will, however, be a much more sentimental angle attached to it, and that could prove the most problematic bit. Especially for CSK.

Is Samson in danger of facing CSK fans’ ire?

Chennai, Tamil Nadu and pretty much the entire country, reveres MS Dhoni in yellow, but the CSK fan base has huge affinity for Jadeja too, who they have fondly called Thalapathy (Dhoni being the Thala) in the past few years. So much so that Jadeja is CSK, and CSK is Jadeja to an extent.

As a franchise, CSK, through their behaviour, demeanour, social media activity, rarely come across as one to be holding grudges. If further reports are to be believed and if Jadeja still harbours captaincy aspirations, the CSK team management, in fact, might be the happiest if he leads RR and takes them to glory, even if that would ultimately be at CSK’s expense.

But asking the fans to accept such a trade will be a different challenge altogether. Jadeja is an emotion for CSK fans. That guy who turns up when all others could not. That guy who bats, bowls and fields as if his and a million other lives depend on it. That guy who, irrespective of the move, will always remain a part of the psyche of every CSK fan. And of course, that guy who, if you ripped his heart, his body and his soul open, would bleed yellow and give off Yellove vibes.

And that, in a nutshell, is what CSK will have to be careful about and mindful of. In 2024, when Hardik Pandya took over the Mumbai Indians captaincy from Rohit Sharma, the outpouring of emotions, towards Hardik, was quite harsh. It even bordered on absurdity.

Whether that happens at CSK, or at Chepauk to Samson, remains to be seen. But it does herald a new beginning. The kind that CSK, almost always, seem to have been averse to, although it is, pragmatically, a succession plan they have long needed.

Maybe then, it will work out for all involved. For Curran. For Jadeja. For Samson. For RR. For CSK. Or maybe, it will not work out at all. Who really knows. What everyone knows is that the IPL will have a different feel to it if Samson turns up in yellow and Jadeja strides out wearing something that is not yellow.

It will take a while to get used to that. Or…we may never get used to it.

CSK and Jadeja, irrespective of what happens in the next few days, will remain a story that transcends eras and generations, and whenever the IPL is chronicled, there will be a chapter entirely to Jadeja and CSK. Not just because of how many times he won it for CSK, like he did in the wee hours of a May morning in Ahmedabad when even the most optimistic of CSK fans had lost hope. But also because Jadeja gave this franchise blood, sweat and tears. And the fans repaid it with a piece of their hearts. Every. Single. Time.

Only that on those occasions, no one, not the fans, not the franchise, nor Jadeja, may have realised that they were going through that feeling - of witnessing a genuinely great all-rounder ply his trade for the franchise he loved with all his being - for perhaps the last time ever.