India, Nov. 12 -- Chennai Super Kings wanting Sanju Samson as their next face of the franchise is a story in itself. Throw Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran into the mix, and suddenly you have what feels like the biggest trade the IPL has ever been. A superstar all-rounder possibly leaving CSK after more than a decade, the Rajasthan Royals' captain switching to yellow, and an England all-rounder as the third piece of the puzzle.

But for all the excitement, this CSK-RR swap is crawling through a maze that's a lot less emotional and a lot more legal: the IPL's trade rulebook. The Jadeja-Samson-Curran deal is not just about cricketing logic or fan sentiment; it's about whether every small step lines up with the BCCI's tightly written regulatio...