India, Nov. 10 -- Chennai Super Kings flirting with a Sanju Samson trade at the cost of Ravindra Jadeja is peak IPL drama. Marquee captain-keeper in yellow, one of India's crucial white-ball batters, new face of the post-Dhoni era - it sounds irresistible.

But once you put Chepauk, roles, and numbers under the scanner, the question becomes inevitable: Does Samson actually make CSK a better team, or does this deal hollow out their core?

Jadeja's IPL value is just pure output across multiple seasons. Across his IPL career, he has 3,260 runs at 27.86 with five fifties and 170 wickets as a left-arm spinner. Take into account his brilliance as a fielder, and Jadeja emerges as a genuine three-skill pillar and not a fading mascot.

At the MA C...