The Indian Premier League (IPL) player trade deals and transfers have always spurred interest and curiosity, for the logic and reasoning behind certain player movements from franchises may not always find sound backing from the team’s fan base. Throughout the course of the last 16 years, the IPL has seen several player trades and transfers as part of player-to-player swap deals that has impacted the involved franchises heavily the following season.
Rajasthan Royals skipper Sanju Samson has now dominated the trade talks post the IPL 2025 season. The Indian Express had reported that it has been learnt that the India wicketkeeper-batter has indeed expressed his interest to the Royals to leave the franchise before the 2026 edition. Samson’s potential move could indeed further shake up the IPL trade dynamics and rank among the biggest trades in IPL history, involving an Indian player alongside Hardik Pandya’s stunning homecoming in 2024 from the Gujarat Titans to Mumbai Indians in a Rs 15 crore deal.
Former India cricketers Zaheer Khan, Robin Uthappa, Ashish Nehra and Shikhar Dhawan were involved in the first major IPL trade deals in 2009. Zaheer and Uthappa were involved in a swap deal between Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Mumbai Indians, with the latter moving to the RCB camp. Meanwhile, Dhawan moved from MI to Delhi Daredevils in exchange for Nehra’s services.
Samson’s rumoured move has been watched with interest by the Chennai Super Kings, although at least one more team would be interested in initiating such a move.
Full list of all major IPL player transfers and trades
| IPL Major Trades and Transfers | ||||
| Year | Player | From | To | Details |
| 2009 | Zaheer Khan | RCB | Mumbai Indians | Part of Robin Uthappa swap deal |
| 2009 | Ashish Nehra | Delhi Daredevils | Mumbai Indians | Part of Shikhar Dhawan swap deal |
| 2012 | Dinesh Karthik | KXIP | Mumbai Indians | |
| 2012 | Pragyan Ojha | Deccan Chargers | Mumbai Indians | |
| 2012 | Kevin Pietersen | Deccan Chargers | Delhi Daredevils | |
| 2013 | Ashish Nehra | Delhi Daredevils | PWI | Part of Ross Taylor swap deal |
| 2015 | Parthiv Patel | RCB | Mumbai Indians | |
| 2016 | KL Rahul | SRH | RCB | |
| 2019 | Quinton de Kock | RCB | Mumbai Indians | ₹2.8 crore |
| 2019 | Marcus Stoinis | KXIP | RCB | ₹6.2 crore |
| 2019 | Shikhar Dhawan | SRH | Delhi Capitals | ₹5.2 crore |
| 2019 | Abhishek Sharma | Delhi Capitals | SRH | Part of Dhawan swap deal |
| 2020 | R Ashwin | KXIP | Delhi Capitals | ₹7.6 crore, part of J Suchith swap deal |
| 2020 | Trent Boult | Delhi Capitals | Mumbai Indians | ₹3.2 crore |
| 2020 | Ajinkya Rahane | RR | Delhi Capitals | ₹5.25 crore |
| 2021 | Harshal Patel | Delhi Capitals | RCB | |
| 2021 | Robin Uthappa | RR | CSK | |
| 2022 | Lockie Ferguson | Gujarat Titans | KKR | ₹10 crore |
| 2022 | Shardul Thakur | Delhi Capitals | KKR | ₹10.75 crore |
| 2024 | Avesh Khan | LSG | RR | ₹10 crore, Swapped for Devdutt Padikkal |
| 2024 | Hardik Pandya | Gujarat Titans | Mumbai Indians | ₹15 crore |
| 2024 | Cameron Green | Mumbai Indians | RCB | ₹17.5 crore |
