Sanju Samson puts full stop to CSK captaincy noise: Don't go to new home with demands
Sanju Samson has put a full stop to the chatter about him becoming the CSK captain. Samson has been a key player for Chennai since making his move from Rajasthan Royals ahead of the IPL 2026 season.
Sanju Samson seems to have put a full stop to the Chennai Super Kings captaincy rumours with a simple message. Samson was traded in from the Rajasthan Royals ahead of the IPL 2026 season in a trade deal worth Rs. 18 Crore, with many feeling he would come into the team as the new skipper, replacing Ruturaj Gaikwad.
Pundits have commented on the possibility of Samson getting the CSK captaincy in the future, with R Ashwin saying that the wicketkeeper will be the skipper of the five-time IPL champions in a few years time.
“I’m no astrologer, but I do see Sanju captaining CSK at some stage. I don’t know when, but I feel it could happen," said Ashwin.
Now, Samson himself has talked about all the chatter around him and CSK captaincy. In the latest episode of the Super Kings podcast, Samson told Abhinav Mukund that he didn't want to come to a new home with a lot of demands.
“I already had a team. I was already settled in a place. So I wanted to come out of there and join another team. In that kind of transaction, you can’t actually have demands. Honestly, when you are trying to get into a new home, you don’t go there with demands — that’s what I’ve learned, to be very honest."
"You go there and try to prove your worth. You try to behave the way you are, perform to the maximum, and then take things forward from there," said Samson.
THE MALAYALI ETHOS
Samson pointed out to his Malayali roots and the work ethic of the people from Keralam, who work in different places around the globe for many years.
"And there’s another thing as well. Like in Chennai, there are a lot of people working from different places. There are many Malayalis here. If you go to Dubai, there are Malayalis there as well. Wherever you go, there are lots of people who work for proper companies."
"So many people work in the same place for a very long period of time. In Dubai, there are people who work for the same company for 30-40 years," said Samson.
Samson said the reason behind this phenomenon for Malayalis is the trust they build with others and they try to repay it with loyalty and dedication. The wicketkeeper said that he is doing the same thing at CSK.
"The reason is trust. Back home, if someone trusts you, gives you an opportunity and calls you to work for them, Malayalis will give their life for that trust. CSK has shown trust in me and invited me here, so I am ready to give my everything."
"That’s the attitude we always have — we are here to serve the franchise. I never came here thinking, ‘Give me this, give me that.’ I will definitely try to be myself, but I didn’t come here with demands."
"I’m here to play for my team and for my captain," said Samson.
Samson said that he is part of the leadership group at CSK and doesn't need the captain tag to be a leader on the field.
"Even during games, you can see the friendship between Ruturaj and me while we are fielding. We are both working together. That’s something I’m really enjoying."
"I’m very involved in the decision-making as well. I’m also behaving like a leader. You don’t always have to do certain things officially to be a leader, right? I think I naturally do those things in whichever team I play for,” said Samson.
Samson has hit the ground running for CSK, scoring 402 runs in 10 matches with two hundreds and a fifty to his name.
IPL 2026 | IPL Schedule | IPL Points Table | IPL Player Stats | Purple Cap | Orange Cap | IPL Videos | Cricket News | Live Score
Sanju Samson seems to have put a full stop to the Chennai Super Kings captaincy rumours with a simple message. Samson was traded in from the Rajasthan Royals ahead of the IPL 2026 season in a trade deal worth Rs. 18 Crore, with many feeling he would come into the team as the new skipper, replacing Ruturaj Gaikwad.
Pundits have commented on the possibility of Samson getting the CSK captaincy in the future, with R Ashwin saying that the wicketkeeper will be the skipper of the five-time IPL champions in a few years time.
“I’m no astrologer, but I do see Sanju captaining CSK at some stage. I don’t know when, but I feel it could happen," said Ashwin.
Now, Samson himself has talked about all the chatter around him and CSK captaincy. In the latest episode of the Super Kings podcast, Samson told Abhinav Mukund that he didn't want to come to a new home with a lot of demands.
“I already had a team. I was already settled in a place. So I wanted to come out of there and join another team. In that kind of transaction, you can’t actually have demands. Honestly, when you are trying to get into a new home, you don’t go there with demands — that’s what I’ve learned, to be very honest."
"You go there and try to prove your worth. You try to behave the way you are, perform to the maximum, and then take things forward from there," said Samson.
THE MALAYALI ETHOS
Samson pointed out to his Malayali roots and the work ethic of the people from Keralam, who work in different places around the globe for many years.
"And there’s another thing as well. Like in Chennai, there are a lot of people working from different places. There are many Malayalis here. If you go to Dubai, there are Malayalis there as well. Wherever you go, there are lots of people who work for proper companies."
"So many people work in the same place for a very long period of time. In Dubai, there are people who work for the same company for 30-40 years," said Samson.
Samson said the reason behind this phenomenon for Malayalis is the trust they build with others and they try to repay it with loyalty and dedication. The wicketkeeper said that he is doing the same thing at CSK.
"The reason is trust. Back home, if someone trusts you, gives you an opportunity and calls you to work for them, Malayalis will give their life for that trust. CSK has shown trust in me and invited me here, so I am ready to give my everything."
"That’s the attitude we always have — we are here to serve the franchise. I never came here thinking, ‘Give me this, give me that.’ I will definitely try to be myself, but I didn’t come here with demands."
"I’m here to play for my team and for my captain," said Samson.
Samson said that he is part of the leadership group at CSK and doesn't need the captain tag to be a leader on the field.
"Even during games, you can see the friendship between Ruturaj and me while we are fielding. We are both working together. That’s something I’m really enjoying."
"I’m very involved in the decision-making as well. I’m also behaving like a leader. You don’t always have to do certain things officially to be a leader, right? I think I naturally do those things in whichever team I play for,” said Samson.
Samson has hit the ground running for CSK, scoring 402 runs in 10 matches with two hundreds and a fifty to his name.
IPL 2026 | IPL Schedule | IPL Points Table | IPL Player Stats | Purple Cap | Orange Cap | IPL Videos | Cricket News | Live Score
