India, Nov. 4 -- Sanju Samson to the Delhi Capitals and Tristan Stubbs to the Rajasthan Royals isn't just a player A for player B move. It is two franchises quietly answering very different questions about who they want to be from 2026 onwards.

This move stands as a question of roles, resource allocations, and risk management, not just who got the biggest star.

Delhi's long-standing structural issue has not been talent; it has been balance and Indian core depth. By bringing in Samson, DC add:

DC often felt like a Pant or nothing operation in their last campaign. Samson could be a high-impact presence at the top of the order with Pant stablising the middle-order. This would reduce their dependence on one player and give them redundancy ...