Shamik Chakrabarty at Eden Gardens
Rajasthan Royals used IPL’s Rule 59.1 to perfection to get the Samson-Jadeja (plus Sam Curran) deal over the line. The story of the 2026 IPL’s biggest swap deal yet was broken by RevSportz on November 9. On Saturday, the IPL confirmed it via a press release.
The release stated: “Senior All-rounder and former Chennai Super Kings (CSK) captain Ravindra Jadeja will represent Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the upcoming IPL season following a successful trade. Jadeja, who played for CSK for 12 seasons, is among the most experienced players in the league, having played over 250 games. As part of the trade agreement, his league fee has been revised from INR 18 crore to INR 14 crore.”
It added: “Rajasthan Royals (RR) captain and India wicketkeeper-batter Sanju Samson will now represent Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at his existing league fee of INR 18 crore. One of the most experienced players in the league, Samson has played 177 IPL matches. CSK will be only the third franchise of his career. Since making his IPL debut in 2013, the senior pro has represented RR in all but two seasons—2016 and 2017—when he played for Delhi Capitals.”
There are no issues with Sanju’s Rs 18-crore deal. Royals had retained him for that amount ahead of the mega-auction last year and CSK forked out his existing league fee to secure his signing. Things were a bit different in Jadeja’s case, as CSK gave him, along with Ruturaj Gaikwad, top retainer fee before the 2025 IPL mega-auction.
Now, as per the IPL rules, if a franchise lets go of its top retention, the retention fee for the second player jumps from Rs 14 crore from Rs 18 crore. If Royals would have roped in Jadeja for Rs 18 crore, they would have lost that Rs 4 crore from their auction purse. To circumvent it, according to sources, Royals mutually agreed with Jadeja that the player would write to the BCCI, saying that he was willing to take a pay cut to have regular game time. The process was followed.
Royals resorted to IPL’s Rule 59.1 to get the deal done. It says: “If the Franchisees agree a reduction in the League Fee payable to a Player then the difference between the original League Fee and the new League Fee shall be the “Negotiated Decrease”. The buying Franchisee will receive the Negotiated Decrease from the selling Franchisee for one Season only and it shall not be subject to any reduction for unavailability of the Player. The selling Franchisee shall pay such sum to the “buying” Franchisee in one instalment on signature of a simple transfer agreement in a form to be supplied to Franchisees by BCCI.”
Ancillary to this rule, there’s Rule 59.3, which says: “BCCI’s approval is required for any trades with a Negotiated Decrease.”
Subject to interpretations, this can be called a loophole. Royals used this perfectly to their advantage to rope in Jadeja for a reduced fee. They brought in Curran for his existing league fee of Rs 2.4 crore.
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