Moments of silence come few and far between in Indian cricket, even if the on-field action takes a momentary pause. Immediately after Team India walked away from their UK tour with a thrilling 2-2 draw, came the news about Rajasthan Royals (RR) skipper Sanju Samson demanding a release before IPL 2026 auction.Player releases and trades are nothing new in the IPL, with the off-season being utilized for the teams to build a formidable roster for the upcoming seasons. Yet, some trades hog the limelight more than the others, thanks to the magnitude of the player name involved or the surprise of the potential swap.Needless to say, a trade can be an all-cash negotiation or swaps involving players, with the player-trading window open from a month after the end of the season to a week before the auction. There is also another window post auction until a month before the start of the next season.On that note, let us look at the five times trade talks involving a player hogged the limelight during the IPL off-season.#1 Sanju SamsonRR skipper Sanju Samson is the latest to dominate the headlines with his request to the franchise for releasing him ahead of the 2026 IPL auction. The 30-year-old has been part of the RR setup since his IPL debut in 2013.There is no confirmation about RR going through with the move and Samson's next landing spot. However, the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) have been reported as front-runners to land the talented right-hander.Samson has scored over 4,700 runs in his IPL career, all with RR, at an average of almost 31 and a strike rate of 139.04 in 177 games. He also led the side to a runners-up finish in 2022 and the playoffs in 2024.#2 Hardik PandyaWho will ever forget the stunning Hardik Pandya trade that rocked the 2023 IPL off-season? The 31-year-old, after two successful seasons with the Gujarat Titans (GT) in 2022 and 2023, was traded back to the Mumbai Indians (MI) ahead of IPL 2024.The trade involved MI moving all-rounder Cameron Green to the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), with GT receiving cash in return.Hardik spent his first seven IPL seasons with MI before moving to GT, helping the latter to win the title in their maiden season in 2022. The maverick all-rounder was subsequently appointed MI captain after his return to the franchise.The move sent shockwaves around the IPL universe, with MI fans booing Hardik for most of the 2024 season, as the side finished at the bottom of the table. However, they enjoyed a resurgence in IPL 2025, qualifying for the playoffs, before losing to the Punjab Kings (PBKS) in Qualifier 2.#3 Rohit SharmaFormer MI skipper Rohit Sharma was linked in trade rumors with several franchises ahead of the IPL 2025 auction. Having led MI for a decade from the middle of 2013 to 2023, the 38-year-old was replaced by Hardik Pandya at the helm ahead of the 2024 season.Reports suggested that Rohit's relationship with MI had deteriorated, resulting in the five-time IPL-winning captain moving elsewhere via trade. However, nothing of that sort materialized with Rohit continuing with the franchise in the 2025 season.The champion batter scored 418 runs, his highest since the 2016 season, in IPL 2025 at an average of almost 30 and a strike rate of 149.28.#4 Ravichandran AshwinLegendary off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin was one of several players involved in a trade deal with the Delhi Capitals (DC). After two underwhelming seasons in 2018 and 2019 as Punjab Kings (PBKS) captain, with the side missing the playoffs, the 38-year-old requested a trade.Just as the trade was seemingly in place, newly-appointed PBKS head coach Anil Kumble reportedly made his intentions clear about retaining Ashwin. However, with the latter's insistence, the trade eventually went through, and the Tamil Nadu spinner played for DC in 2020 and 2021.#5 KL RahulVeteran wicketkeeper batter KL Rahul continues to be in the limelight after his spectacular Test tour of England. Like Samson, Rahul has been mentioned as one of the names potentially in the trading block before the 2026 IPL auction.DC bought the 33-year-old at the mega auction last year for a bargain price of ₹14 crore. However, the latest reports suggest that the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) are likely to go all-out to acquire Rahul's services in a possible trade with Venkatesh Iyer.After winning the title in 2024, KKR endured a poor 2025 season, missing the playoffs and finishing eighth in the standings.