The Chennai Super Kings were reportedly in talks with the Gujarat Titans for a trade of all-rounder Washington Sundar. This is in the backdrop of Ravindra Jadeja set to leave the franchise with Sam Curran, as CSK are likely to trade Sanju Samson from RR.
Amidst the talks of a Sanju Samson trade with the Rajasthan Royals having picked up steam, the Chennai Super Kings’ hopes of having a replacement for Ravindra Jadeja have taken a hit.
CSK are in advanced talks with the Royals to bring their captain Samson into the squad and are set to give their star all-rounder Jadeja, alongside another all-rounder in Sam Curran to the 2008 champions. CSK, the spin-heavy side, was looking to get Sundar in the fray to have a robust spin side, but have now declined the trade by the Gujarat Titans, the Indian Express reported.
Sundar has risen up the ranks in the world cricket circuit and is an Indian regular now, and has been part of the squads in all three formats more often than not, and also gets to play the games.
He was roped in by the Titans in the IPL 2025 mega auction for Rs 3.2 crore after he was released by Sunrisers Hyderabad, for whom he played from 2022 to 2024, but warmed the benches mostly in 2024 due to the impact player rule.
Sundar didn’t had much impact with the ball last season as he wasn’t used much with it. He bowled fewer than 11 overs in the entirety of the six matches that he played, with two wickets to his name. He had more contribution with the bat, scoring 133 runs in five innings at a strike rate of 166.25 with the highest score of 49.
Sundar began his IPL career in 2017 with Rising Pune Supergiant under Stephen Fleming before spending the next four years with the Royal Challengers Bangalore (now Royal Challengers Bengaluru).
As for CSK, they have a history of strong spinners on their side. They had the likes of Muttiah Muralitharan, Ravichandran Ashwin, Imran Tahir and Moeen Ali with them. Meanwhile, with Jadeja set to go to the Royals, their spin stocks will decline further.
The Super Kings have Afghanistan’s Noor Ahmed with them, with Shreyas Gopal as an Indian back-up. A strong Indian spinner in Sundar would have given their spin attack a big shot in the arm. Meanwhile, with the deal being declined by the 2022 champions now, the MS Dhoni-led side will need to look somewhere else for a trade or look to get a spinner or a two in the auction.