The pre-deadline day period saw one of the busiest trading windows in IPL history, with probably the transfer of the tournament as veteran Indian all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja ended his long association with the Chennai Super Kings to move back to the Rajasthan Royals, while the inaugural champions traded their skipper, Sanju Samson, to the Men in Yellow. Hardik Pandya moving from the Gujarat Titans to the Mumbai Indians ahead of the 2024 edition still remains the biggest one-sided trade, but Jadeja-Samson might have taken over it in terms of player-to-player swap.
Former India cricketer and erstwhile selector Saba Karim felt that trades like these signal the growth and maturity of the tournament, where players and teams are moving ahead of the 'loyalty' factor and are taking calls being pragmatic, keeping the benefit of the team and the franchise at the forefront.
"It's time for fans to move on from emotional attachments. What had to happen has happened and now fans will have to get used to seeing Ravindra Jadeja in the pink jersey instead of the usual yellow one. Yes it's tough but the league shows maturity when players and teams make tough decisions," Saba Karim said on JioStar's retention show. "I think Jadeja wants a new challenge at this stage of his career and probably that's the reason why he agreed to join Rajasthan Royals. Now it's up to the RR team management to see how they can build a young team around a seasoned campaigner like Jadeja and turn them into winners," Karim further added.
Jadeja had begun his IPL career with the Royals back in 2008 and played for the side for four years before being picked by the Super Kings at the 2012 player auction. And now ending such a long-term association while taking a pay cut of INR 4 crore (from 18 to 14), Anil Kumble, the legendary Indian spinner, reckoned that it could be about captaincy, since the Royals have to take the leadership call, having let go of Samson.
"Ravindra Jadeja returning to Rajasthan Royals is a big move. Generally, CSK doesn't let go of their players, especially someone of Jadeja's quality who has had a long relationship with them. I was surprised they let him go," Kumble, part of the same panel, said. "Meanwhile, Sanju Samson coming to CSK is certainly a great move for them. Interestingly, Jadeja has also taken a pay cut from 18 crore to 14 crore. The big question is about captaincy - could Rajasthan offer it to Jadeja? They need to find a new captain.
"They have several options - Riyan Parag led them in a couple of matches last season, Yashasvi Jaiswal has always harboured captaincy dreams, young Dhruv Jurel has the right temperament, and there's overseas option Sam Curran. So Ravindra Jadeja becomes another interesting possibility for their leadership role," he added.
Parag led the Royals in a few games in IPL 2025 when Samson was unavailable. Jaiswal has openly expressed his interest in leading an IPL side and then there's Jadeja, whose first captaincy stint didn't go as planned and will hope that if the Men in Pink do pick him for the job, it goes much better than the previous one.
