IPL 2026: ‘If I think of RR, I think Sanju Samson’ – Faf du Plessis shares his views on star wicketkeeper’s move to CSK

Former Royal Challengers Bengaluru captain Faf du Plessis reflected on Sanju Samson’s move to the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) after spending 11 seasons at the Rajasthan Royals (RR). The Kerala wicketkeeper-batter, who recently won the Player of the Tournament award in India’s triumphant T20 World Cup campaign, joined the five-time champions through a trade, which saw Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran heading to the Royals.

Du Plessis said that Samson’s move is huge, as he became the face of the Rajasthan Royals franchise, having spent so much time and also leading them 2021 to 2025.

“If I look at the IPL and the teams, the iconic teams we see around the league, all of them have one marquee Indian player in common, someone who has been the face of the franchise for a period of time, Rohit Sharma, MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli. And Sanju Samson, for me, was that guy at Rajasthan Royals,” du Plessis said while speaking on JioHotstar’s ‘Game Plan – Know Your Team’.

“Yes, he’s of a newer generation, but he had become the face of that franchise. If I think of Rajasthan Royals, I think Sanju Samson. So, the fact that they’ve lost that face, I think, is a massive thing for the fans, for the IPL, and for the tournament, because he’s played such a big role there,”  he added.

When you have that consistency of runs from Sanju, it allows you to play your game: Faf du Plessis on Yashasvi Jaiswal

Faf du Plessis opined that Samson leaving the Royals could put Yashasvi Jaiswal under additional pressure. The legendary cricketer said that Jaiswal would have to choose whether to play his natural game or bat deep into the innings to score bulk of the runs for the inaugural champions.

“The thing with Yashasvi Jaiswal is that he’s had Sanju Samson, who has been such a huge, consistent performer within that batting line-up. So, when you have that consistency of runs from Sanju, it allows you to play your game. Now, you take that away, all of a sudden, people will look at him with more responsibility. And for a player like him, you don’t want him thinking about responsibility, you want him thinking, ‘I want to take the game on. I want to hit as many sixes as possible,’ the former South African captain said.

“So there’s a learning curve that’s going to come into his career this season, ‘Am I true to the game that I’ve always played, or do I take up the senior player role to score the bulk of the runs?’ So it’ll be interesting to see how that goes. I think he’ll still play in the way that he does. It would be silly not to, because he’s such an attacking player,” he concluded.

The Royals start their campaign on March 30, as they take on the Super Kings at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati.