Sam Curran – Rajasthan Royals: Sam Curran’s groin injury ruled him out of the Rajasthan Royals (RR) squad for the 2026 Indian Premier League. Kumar Sangakkara said that it was “disappointing” that the all-rounder came back to playing for Surrey in the men’s Vitality Blast on May 22. In reference to Sangakkara Curran who was an England contracted player, was a “season-ending injury” whereas at the same time of his IPL withdrawal announcement on March 19, he had stated that he will come back “whenever it feels right”.
IPL 2026: Rajasthan Royals coach Kumar Sangakkara criticises Sam Curran
Kumar Sangakkara said, “we were told that Sam Curran had a season-ending injury, but I saw him play 2-3 games for Surrey. That was disappointing because we would have loved to have had him here with us”. pic.twitter.com/ghC12FQ4bY
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) May 30, 2026
Rajasthan Royals head coach Kumar Sangakkara has expressed his surprise over Sam Curran’s choice of withdrawing from this year’s IPL after the all-rounder was spotted playing for Surrey in the T20 Blast. The Royals were eagerly awaiting Curran, who moved from the Chennai Super Kings as a part of the deal that sent Ravindra Jadeja to Super Kings, to be a key player for them. Still, Curran pulled out of the IPL due to a groin injury shortly after the T20 World Cup, and Dasun Shanaka was the one to replace him at RR.
The Sri Lankan all-rounder only featured for the Royals on seven occasions, one of which was the second qualifier that they lost on Friday, May 29. Sangakkara, after the game, showed his displeasure that Curran was playing for Surrey when the IPL was still ongoing. Sangakkara while talking to the press after RR’s defeat to GT said, “We were told that Sam Curran had a season-ending injury. But I think I saw him playing for Surrey for two or three games now. So that was disappointing. We would have loved to have had him here playing for us. But I think (it was good) having Dasun Shanaka as a replacement when we were told early.”
IPL 2026: Sam Curran injury update
Even though he hasn’t bowled yet, it’s none other than Curran who would currently top the runs chart in this tournament, as well as leading the way in his first three games as captain of Surrey. The all-rounder did state in a media interview a few months ago that there isn’t a minimum time frame for his return to action. While talking about his injury and missing the IPL 2026, Curran said, “It’s an injury that I’ve kind of been battling with a little bit. It has gradually got fractionally worse. I went for a couple of scans and it showed reasonable damage, so I had to make the tough decision. It was hindering me quite a bit. To miss the IPL was very disappointing.”
Pragun is a passionate cricket follower and writer who deeply loves the game. Having completed his education with a degree in Journalism and Mass Communication, he has an experience of almost two years in diverse fields. He is known for his statistical and analytical articles. Pragun tries to bring life to his articles by adding a layer of enthusiasm from the perspective of a hardcore fan. Apart from writing cricket articles, he sometimes appears on YouTube videos on a friend’s podcast.
