At Guwahati, Ravindra Jadeja of the Rajasthan Royals set a new IPL record for longest gap between consecutive appearances for the same team.
Ravindra Jadeja returns to Rajasthan Royals
Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals were involved in a high-profile trade ahead of the 2026 IPL auction: RR released Sanju Samson in exchange of Sam Curran (who was subsequently ruled out of the season) and Jadeja.
The two teams met in their respective season opener in Guwahati. Being included in the RR team list marked Jadeja’s return for the franchise since 2009. Part of the RR camp that won the inaugural edition, in 2008, Jadeja also played for them in 2009.
Jadeja was banned for the 2010 season for “violating rules”. When he returned in 2011, it was to play for the new franchise, Kochi Tuskers Kerala. From 2012, he has had an uninterrupted run for CSK (except in 2016 and 2017, when he played for the now-defunct Gujarat Lions during CSK’s ban).
Jadeja’s reappearance helped him break the record for the longest gap between consecutive games for the same franchise. At 6,158 days, he is nearly three years clear of Karn Sharma’s previous record of 5,093 days.
For perspective, Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Jadeja’s RR teammate tonight, was not born when Jadeja had last played for the franchise!
Match 3, Rajasthan Royals vs Chennai Super Kings
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Longest gap between consecutive appearances for same IPL franchise
| Player | Team | From | To | Gap (days) |
| Ravindra Jadeja | Rajasthan Royals | May 20, 2009 | March 30, 2026 | 6,158 |
| Karn Sharma | Royal Challengers Bengaluru | April 22, 2009 | April 2, 2023 | 5,093 |
| Mandeep Singh | Kolkata Knight Riders | March 29, 2010 | April 1, 2023 | 4,751 |
| Mayank Agarwal | Royal Challengers Bengaluru | April 13, 2013 | May 23, 2025 | 4,423 |
| Vijay Shankar | Chennai Super Kings | May 13, 2014 | March 30, 2025 | 3,974 |
| Shikhar Dhawan | Delhi Daredevils/Capitals | May 30, 2008 | March 24, 2019 | 3,950 |
| Mitchell Marsh | Deccan Chargers/Sunrisers Hyderabad | April 18, 2010 | September 21, 2020 | 3,809 |
| R Ashwin | Chennai Super Kings | May 24, 2015 | March 23, 2025 | 3,591 |
| Dale Steyn | Royal Challengers Bengaluru | April 24, 2010 | April 19, 2019 | 3,282 |
| David Warner | Delhi Daredevils/Capitals | May 19, 2013 | April 7, 2022 | 3,245 |
