Former Mumbai Indian Player Claims Sanju Samson Will Play As 'A Pure Batter' In CSK

Following the announcement of retention and released list ahead of the IPL 2026 auction, former Mumbai Indians spinner, Harbhajan Singh, weighed in on CSK's decision to trade Ravindra Jajeda for RR's Sanju Samson. Singh shared that he believes Samson will play as a pure batter rather than as the wicketkeeper for the Chennai side.

While talking about the players released by CSK in his recent video on his channel, he shared, "CSK released Matheesha Pathirana, Devon Conway, Rahul Tripathi, Rachin Ravindra, Deepak Hooda, Vijay Shankar, Shaikh Rasheed, and Kamlesh Nagarkoti. They traded out Ravindra Jadeja. Can you imagine a player like Jadeja traded?"

While talking about Samson's trade, he elaborated, "Sam Curran too was traded to the Royals, and they brought Sanju Samson to the team. I feel Ruturaj Gaikwad will continue to captain, and Samson might not even play as a keeper-batter because MS Dhoni is the keeper. So, he will play as a pure batter."

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Harbhajan Singh Expresses His Surprise At KKR Releasing Some Big Names

The former CSK player also shared that he was surprised to see the Kolkata Knight Riders releasing players like Andre Russell and Venkatesh Iyer. He, however, believes that this will help the team to buy new players and build a team around them as they would have a good purse going into the upcoming auction.

Singh commented, "KKR released some big names too – Andre Russell, Venkatesh Iyer, Quinton de Kock, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, and Moeen Ali. These are massive names. The other players released are Luvnit Sisodia, Spencer Johnson, Anrich Nortje, and Chetan Sakariya. KKR would have a good purse amount as players like Russell and Iyer were expensive."

Despite having no official update yet at the time of writing, Ajinkya Rahane is expected to retain his captaincy at KKR.

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Singh Warns Teams Going For Glenn Maxwell

The veteran player expressed that he would be surprised to see teams still bidding for Glenn Maxwell after his poor performance in recent years. After being released by RCB in 2024, Maxwell was brought by the Punjab Kings for 4.2 Cr. ahead of the 2025 IPL. However, the Australian player only managed to score 48 runs in seven matches before succumbing to an injury.

This year, before the  IPL 2026 auctions, the Punjab Kings have decided to release the player. While speaking about their decision, Harbhajan Singh shared, "Punjab Kings released Josh Inglis, Aaron Hardie, and Glenn Maxwell. If IPL teams still pick Maxwell, it’s hard to understand what they are thinking."

Notably, Punjab Kings reached the 2025 IPL Finals but were defeated by RCB at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.