Chennai Super Kings' (CSK) newest recruit Sanju Samson opened up on wearing the yellow jersey for the first time as he begins preparation for his first outing with the franchise. The 31-year-old stated that he had been patiently waiting for this day and felt like a champion after donning the kit.A high-profile trade was carried out between the Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals ahead of the IPL 2026 auction. With Samson getting traded to the Yellow Army from the Royals, Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran went to Rajasthan. The keeper-batter has been traded to CSK for his existing fee of ₹18 crore and will now represent the third franchise of his IPL career.In a video uploaded by CSK on X, Samson said:"I have been waiting for this day and I'm very fortunate that I'm going to wear the Yellow jersey. As I said I'm always in my dark colours like black, blue, brown. But yellow definitely I think is a great feeling to wear that jersey I think. Never thought about it honestly about how will I feel after wearing CSK. I felt very positive, happy and different. A different energy wearing that jersey. I felt like a champion."The Kerala-born cricketer has vast experience in IPL, having debuted in 2013. In 177 games, he has mustered 4704 runs at 30.94 with three centuries. He has captained the Royals in 67 matches, winning 33 of them, including taking them to the final of the 2022 edition."He sort of made indications towards the end of the season" - Rajasthan Royals' owner opens up on Sanju Samson's releaseManoj Badale. (Image Credits: Getty)In a recent interview with ESPN Cricinfo, Royals' owner Manoj Badale stated that Samson had asked to be released as he wanted to begin a fresh chapter. Badale elaborated:"Look, he sort of made indications towards the end of the [IPL 2025] season that he was emotionally [drained]. So when he says, 'Sir, I want to move on, I'm emotionally drained; I almost care too much and I feel like I need a fresh chapter', when he asks that, you have to listen. I was really clear with him that we would cooperate and try to seek an alternative chapter for him, but we would only do it if it was a player trade and we would only do it if our view was that the trade made the franchise stronger."The Super Kings will hope for a better display in IPL 2026 after finishing the 2025 edition at the bottom of the points table.