Ravindra Jadeja reached out to Rajasthan Royals for trade in October, reveals team owner

The Indian Premier League 2026 retentions were announced on November 15 by all the ten franchises, but the biggest headline was with Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran being traded out by Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in exchange for the wicketkeeper-batter Sanju Samson. The trade deal amounted INR 14 crore being paid to Jadeja, while Curran took INR 2.4 crore only.

Rajasthan Royals (RR) co-owner Manoj Badale has made a massive revelation that it was Ravindra Jadeja himself who first reached out to him for

a possible switching of sides ahead of the 2026 season. It was then that RR actually showed interest in acquiring the all-rounder's services, which took a few more weeks before the deal eventually came to fruition.

"Ravindra Jadeja reached out to me about four weeks ago, around mid-October, saying he was excited about the possibility of coming ‘home,’ as he described it—back to where he started his IPL career, and really where his cricketing journey and visibility across India began. Over the past few weeks, we’ve had several exchanges. The last time I saw him he was 21, so it’s been fascinating getting to know the older version of Ravi Jadeja," Badale told in an official RR video.

However, Badale also revealed that the Jaipur-based franchise was never thinking of Curran as a complimentary dish served alongside Jadeja. In fact, RR always wanted to have both the all-rounders in the build-up to the team's strategy ahead of the upcoming season, as the 2008 champions still await their second title.

"I want to be clear: it wasn’t a trade for Jadeja alone. It was a trade for Jadeja and Sam Curran. We must not forget that other component. The combination of the two and how they collectively fill three or four roles we need for the next season—that’s what made it compelling," said Badale.

Jadeja has already played a couple of seasons for the Royals, when he made his debut in 2008 right after helping the India Under-19s side win the World Cup earlier that year. He spent another season with RR before switching to Kochi Tuskers Kerala for his next stint in the cash-rich tournament. In 2012, Jadeja joined CSK, a side he played for till 2025 barring the 2016 and 2017 seasons to play for Gujarat Lions.