Chennai Super Kings (CSK) off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin reminded fans that the franchise must send a player or multiple players worth a sum of ₹ 18 crores to acquire Rajasthan Royals (RR) skipper Sanju Samson via trade. All hell broke loose when reports last week suggested that Samson requested RR to trade or release him ahead of the IPL 2026 auction.CSK were supposedly one of the front-runners to land the talented wicketkeeper-batter, leaving fans of the franchise excited.However, Ashwin reminded them that an all-cash deal involving Samson wasn't possible and that CSK had to give away players too."CSK fans are were passionate and hopeful about landing Sanju Samson via trade. Yet, they must remember they have to send a player or players adding up to 18 crores. You can't just say 'I'll clear space for 18 crores by leaving a player/players to the auction'. Either they can send a player worth 18 crores to RR or involve a third team and send the 18 crore worth player to them," he said on his YouTube channel (11:20)Ashwin also felt CSK's unwillingness to move on from players might prevent the Samson trade from going through."The other reason why the trade will likely not go through is CSK don't believe in trading players. They won't give Dube or Jadeja. Also, RR doesn't have a major gain in this trade from a cricketing point of view. But the chances of Sanju coming to the auction are minimal as RR will be the lone loser in that case. There is also a heavy chance of Sanju staying with RR," he stated.The latest reports (from Cricbuzz) today have confirmed that CSK have rejected RR's trade request of moving Samson for one of Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ravindra Jadeja, or Shivam Dube."RR are not short on skill in their side even without Sanju" - Ravichandran AshwinRavichandran Ashwin believes RR can still build a solid side for the IPL 2026 even if they release Sanju Samson into the auction and not continue with a trade. The 2008 winners finished second to bottom on the points table in IPL 2025, winning only four out of 14 games.Despite a losing record, RR were in a dominant position in several matches before eventually folding under pressure."RR are not short on skill in their side even without Sanju. Yes, losing him will be a big hit. But their team is still good and if they correct their bowling with that money, the team will be set," said Ashwin (via the aforementioned source).Samson has been with RR since the start of his IPL career in 2013, playing an incredible 177 games for them.