"Even he could leave the franchise" - Aakash Chopra’s massive warning to Rajasthan Royals ahead of IPL 2026

Former batter Aakash Chopra issued a massive warning to the Rajasthan Royals (RR) ahead of IPL 2026. RR are reportedly set to trade out Sanju Samson to Chennai Super Kings (CSK) for Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran.

Should Jadeja move to RR, he warned the franchise against making the all-rounder their captain. Aakash Chopra reckoned that star opener Yashasvi Jaiswal should be made captain. He reflected that they could lose Jaiswal in the next cycle if they do not do so.

Sanju Samson reportedly wanted to part ways with RR after the last season concluded. Chopra warned them that it could be a similar case with Jaiswal in the future.

"Will Rajasthan make Jadeja the captain? I really hope they make Jaiswal the captain. If you do not give him the captaincy now, even he could leave the franchise when the next mega auction comes, you will lose him also then. Make him the captain or you will lose him also, like you lost Sanju Samson. Please hold on to who you have now nicely," he said on his YouTube channel.

Jaiswal began his IPL journey in 2020 with Rajasthan. He has featured in 67 games for them has has become a vital member of the set-up. The left-hander has scored 2166 runs at an average of 34.38 and a strike-rate of 152.85 with two hundreds and 15 half-centuries.

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Aakash Chopra on MI's plans ahead of IPL 2026 auction

In the same video, Aakash Chopra also reflected on the Mumbai Indians' (MI) plans ahead of the IPL 2026 auction. He reckoned that there was no need for them to release anyone as it was a strong team already.

The former batter suggested that they could probably release the likes of Vignesh Puthur and Reece Topley for the sake of some money at the auction. However, Aakash Chopra stated that there was no real need for them to make any changes as such.

"Who will MI release? It is a very good team. I do not think they can let go of anyone. They should not leave even Karn Sharma. If you want to accumulate a little money, maybe release Vignesh Puthur, Reece Topley. I would want Allah Ghazanfar to be there. There are discussions about Deepak Chahar being expensive, but if you leave him, you will not get him back at the same price anyway. There will not be any good Indian pacer in the auction. So hold on to him as well. I do not think Mumbai need to make any more changes," he said.

Notably, MI made two major moves before the auction. They traded in all-rounder Shardul Thakur from the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and hard-hitting batter Sherfane Rutherford from the Gujarat Titans (GT) in all-cash deals.