Kumar Sangakkara 'disappointed' with Sam Curran's preference for Surrey over Rajasthan Royals

Rajasthan Royals' (RR) director of cricket and head coach, Kumar Sangakkara, expressed his displeasure over Sam Curran's appearances for Surrey in the ongoing T20 Blast after pulling out of the IPL's 19th edition.

Curran and Ravindra Jadeja were traded in by Rajasthan Royals from Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in exchange for Sanju Samson in a pre-auction trade. Curran was supposed to earn an INR 2.4 crore paycheck from Rajasthan Royals for playing in IPL 2026. However, Curran was ruled out of the entire season after he suffered a groin injury following England's semifinal exit at the ICC Men's T20 World Cup in March.

Curran's exit forced RR to look desperately for a like-for-like replacement, and they decided to rope in Sri Lanka's star batting allrounder Dasun Shanaka. RR signed Shanaka for INR 2 crore. The Sri Lankan allrounder opted out of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) to feature in the IPL and was subsequently banned for one year by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).

Interestingly, Curran has made a comeback to competitive cricket and is leading Surrey in the ongoing T20 Blast. He made his return with Surrey's opening game of the campaign against Lancashire on May 22. He has already racked up 141 runs in three games and is the top run-scorer for his side in the tournament. However, the pace-bowling allrounder is yet to bowl in the tournament.

Sangakkara voiced his disappointment over Curran choosing to play in the T20 Blast instead of honouring his commitment to Rajasthan Royals in the IPL.

"We were told that Sam Curran had a season-ending injury," Sangakkara said after Rajasthan Royals' exit from IPL 2026 following a seven-wicket loss to Gujarat Titans (GT) in Qualifier 2. "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."