‘Disappointing’ – Sangakkara on Sam Curran turning out for Surrey with IPL still on

Curran had been traded to RR from Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in exchange for Sanju Samson, with Ravindra Jadeja going to CSK. After Curran communicated his inability to play, Dasun Shanaka was signed as a replacement on March 23. This led to complications, as Shanaka had to withdraw from his contract with Lahore Qalandars in PSL 2026 and received a one-year ban from the tournament because of it. Currently, Curran is playing as a batter only and is not scheduled to bowl in Surrey’s first six Blast matches. He has played three games so far, scoring 141 runs, making him the team's top run-scorer at this point. When he opted out of the IPL, Curran mentioned that he had managed the groin issue during the T20 World Cup earlier this year. He was quoted in British media saying, “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.” The topic of overseas players not fulfilling their IPL commitments has arisen occasionally. In September 2024, the BCCI announced a two-year ban on players who withdrew after being selected at IPL auctions. Sangakkara commented, “Yeah, I think a proper tight policy around that is always a requirement. The BCCI has a strict policy on that. Injuries happen to everyone, and if it’s a serious injury, a season-ending injury, we completely understand.” However, Sangakkara indicated that he would have liked Curran to be part of the RR team, even if injured, during what would have been his first season with them. Sangakkara noted, “We’ve also had players like Adam Milne, Shimron Hetmyer, quite a few who came here and not had much of a game; Lhuan-dre Pretorius is another one, Kwena Maphaka is another one. They’ve been here, they’ve done the hard yards, they’ve practiced, they’ve carried water for the team, and they’ve really worked as hard as anyone else to support the team in this journey.” He added, “It’s really up to that individual player to decide whether they want to come or not, but I think the BCCI policy around it is very strict now, and that’s the way it should continue. It should be very strict to ensure that contractual obligations are met properly and genuinely, and I think every side in the IPL will benefit from that.”