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Ever since Chennai Super Kings’ IPL 2026 campaign had hit a bump in the middle despite Sanju Samson’s arrival, questions were raised over whether or not Ruturaj Gaikwad was the right person to don the armband for the “Yellow Army.”
The most suggested alternative to Gaikwad was CSK’s new recruit, Sanju Samson. Before joining CSK in 2026 via a trade deal, Sanju Samson was the captain of the Rajasthan Royals between 2021 and 2025.
Gaikwad had only become CSK’s captain in 2024, but hasn’t achieved as many great heights with the franchise. In his first year as captain, CSK narrowly missed out on the playoffs. In 2025, he was out injured early in the season, and CSK finished last. So far in 2026, CSK have been a strictly mid-table side and are currently sixth on the points table with 5 wins and 5 losses each from 10 matches.
Now, Sanju Samson has rejected the prospect of being named CSK captain and has said that he is perfectly okay with playing in Gaikwad’s captaincy.
“You can’t have demands when you go to a new home” – Sanju Samson
Samson was talking on the Super Kings Podcast, hosted by former CSK and India batter Abhinav Mukund. The interview was uploaded by the Chennai Super Kings franchise on their YouTube channel.
Mukund asked whether Samson had had any ego issues about the captaincy while coming to CSK. “Did you ever have any thoughts about that [captaincy]? Did you ever think, ‘I have been captain for five years, why should I come play for someone else now?’,” he asked.
“No,” Samson replied. “Because I already had a team, I was already in a place. So, I wanted to come out of there and join another team. So, in that transaction, you can’t actually have demands. Honestly, you are trying to get in a new home. So, when you are trying to get in a new home, you don’t go there with demands. This is what I have learnt to be very honest.”
“You go there, and you try to prove your worth. You try to behave the way you are, perform [to your] maximum, and then from there you take on [captaincy],” he continued.
“CSK have trusted me, so I can’t go with demands” – Samson
Samson elaborated by touching on his Malayali roots and saying that he needed to repay CSK’s trust in him and not make any demands. He said that the Malayali community is a loyal group of people who do not sabotage.
“I will tell you one thing Abhinav, wherever I go, I have seen our people [Malyalis] working for a long time, be it in Chennai or in Dubai. They work for the same people, same company for some 30-40 years. The reson for this is, if you pick a Malyali person to work for you, you are trusting me to work for you, us Malyalis will give our life to repay that trust. CSK has trusted me and invited me here, so I am ready to give my everything here,” he said.
“So that’s how we behave. We are always there to serve the franchise, we are always there to serve the team. I won’t come here saying I am Sanju Samson, give me this, give me that. I will definitely try to behave the way I am, but I won’t come here with demands,” Samson added.
Also Read: 3 reasons why Shreyas Iyer, not Sanju Samson, should become India’s next T20I captain
“I am happy playing for my captain, Ruturaj” – Samson
Sanju Samson continued to talk about his working relationship with CSK’s leadership. Be it captain Ruturaj Gaikwad or head coach Stephen Fleming.
“I’ll play for my team, I’ll play for my captain Ruturaj [Gaikwad], I’ll play for my coach Stephen Fleming. I’ll love to be with Mahi bhai [MS Dhoni] wherever possible. Again, I am going to meet him in his room, so, whenver I come here, I try to find the time to go and meet Mahi bhai. I’m loving to the core actually, so [for me] this is more than happy,” he added.
“So, even in the games, Rutu [Gaikwad] and my friendship can be seen while we are fielding. We both are working this together. So, that I’m enjoying very much actually. I’m very much involved in the decision making, I’m also behaving like a leader. This is all a part [of the game]. You don’t have to do certain things to be a leader. I’m always doing that kind of thing in any team I represent,” he continued.
