Former Indian Test opener Sadagopan Ramesh has backed Sanju Samson to lead Chennai Super Kings after a poor run in IPL 2026. Samson was traded to CSK ahead of IPL 2026 in exchange for Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran. The Kerala batter scored 477 runs in 14 matches of the previous season for CSK at an average of 43.36 and a strike rate of 165.62.

Samson has experience of leading Rajasthan Royals in the past. Meanwhile, under Ruturaj Gaikwad’s captaincy, CSK could not qualify for the playoffs in the previous season, winning six out of the 14 league stage matches.

“CSK are seemingly thinking of many options as captain and even wondering if there is a captaincy change needed. Sanju Samson should be considered as captain because he’s such a fantastic team player. The CSK captaincy must be changed, and if it is, CSK must seriously consider Sanju Samson,” said Ramesh on his Instagram handle.

Ramesh highlighted that Rajasthan Royals performed well under Samson’s captaincy.

“Samson has also captained 66 matches in the IPL and won 33. So he has a 50% success rate. Under him, RR performed well by reaching a final and making another playoff appearance. Of course, CSK need several other things to change, and just making Sanju the captain won’t win them the trophy. But if at all they change captains, Sanju must be strongly considered,” said Ramesh (via the aforementioned source).

RR ended IPL 2022 as the runners-up under Samson’s leadership. The inaugural champions won 33 out of their 66 matches under Samson’s captaincy.

Samson has scored 5181 runs in 190 IPL matches at an average of 31.59 and a strike rate of 141.14. The flamboyant has been added to India’s squad for the Afghanistan series after missing the Zimbabwe tour.