"Not part of the conversation right now" - RR owner's massive statement on Ravindra Jadeja potentially captaining the side in IPL 2026

Rajasthan Royals owner Manoj Badale has opened up on Ravindra Jadeja's captaincy prospects, after he was traded in from the Chennai Super Kings (CSK). Badale said they haven't spoken about the captaincy part yet and are keeping their focus firmly only on the auction.

In one of the most high-profile trades, Jadeja was traded from the Super Kings, along with Sam Curran, to the Royals, who let go of Sanju Samson in exchange. The left-arm spinner was part of the Rajasthan Royals in 2008 and 2009.

When asked whether they have considered the veteran all-rounder for captaincy, Badale claimed that at least six to seven players were under consideration for the role. He told ESPN Cricinfo:

"Not really. And it's not part of the conversation right now. We actually have got the player leadership group together twice, once including him, to make it clear that we are going to go through a process over the next couple of months. We've got probably six or seven players that could be RR captain. We didn't want to get into that and embark on that part of the process until we knew the trade was happening. Otherwise, it becomes a futile process. Now that the trade is done, our absolute short-term focus is the auction. Once the auction is done, our next focus then will be the captaincy process."

Jadeja led the Super Kings in eight games, winning only two of those before MS Dhoni took over the reins again, in 2022.

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"He was so happy to be coming back to RR" - Manoj Badale on Ravindra Jadeja

Manoj Badale. (Image Credits: Getty)

When asked what prompted him to bag Jadeja's services, Badale said any owner would be tempted to sign the star cricketer due to his brilliance across departments. He elaborated:

"Personally, any owner would be mad not to be tempted by Jadeja. I don't need to talk about his cricket credentials: he's won trophies in the IPL, he's won trophies on the international stage. He's arguably one of our best batters, one of our best bowlers, one of our best fielders. Even though he played for us [in 2008-09], I didn't really know him as a person. And also the person I knew was a 19-year-old. I mean, obviously there's a nice narrative about returning home and coming back to where he started, but in truth, that's been a bigger theme for him. He called me when CSK informed him that he was up for trade. He was so happy to be coming back to RR."

The likes of Dhruv Jurel and Yashasvi Jaiswal are among the contenders to captain the Royals next season.