The Royals may have walked away as the clear winners from the blockbuster trade, maybe the biggest ever in the IPL history. The Super Kings parted with an additional player - Sam Curran, valued at Rs 2.4 crore - along with Ravindra Jadeja, whose price tag of Rs 18 crore is identical to Sanju Samson's league fee.
Jadeja is unquestionably one of India's greatest all-rounders, and for more than a decade he's been a marquee presence in the IPL since the late Shane Warne anointed him "Rockstar" during Rajasthan Royals' title run in the inaugural season. But as he approaches 37, there is a growing sense that his peak years may be behind him. Across the last two editions, he has picked up only 18 wickets at an economy of 8.20. With the bat, his 568 runs at a strike rate of 139 are solid, but the Impact Sub era has pushed middle-order batters towards even higher power-hitting output. In this same period, Jadeja has retired from T20Is and was recently overlooked for the ODI series in Australia, with selectors preferring Axar Patel.