Rajasthan Royals’ IPL 2026 journey ended on a painful note on Friday, when they were beaten by seven wickets by Gujarat Titans in Qualifier 2 at Chandigarh. After building a commanding score of 214/6 from their 20 overs, powered by Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s explosive 96 off 47 balls, RR looked set for a place in the final. Yet Shubman Gill produced a match-changing century, steering Gujarat to the chase with eight balls remaining. The defeat knocked Rajasthan out of the title race, while Gujarat Titans secured their spot in the championship game against Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
In the aftermath of the match, Rajasthan head coach Kumar Sangakkara raised concerns about England all-rounder Sam Curran’s late withdrawal from the tournament due to injury. Sangakkara suggested that the BCCI should make sure overseas players adhere to their contractual obligations across the IPL. Curran had initially pulled out with what was described as a season-ending groin issue, but he has since returned to competitive action and appeared in three matches for Surrey in the T20 Blast. Sangakkara said the situation was frustrating for his team, which ultimately had to bring in Dasun Shanaka as Curran’s replacement.
“We were told that Sam Curran had a season-ending injury, but I think I saw him playing for Surrey for two games or three games now, so that was disappointing. We’d have loved to have had him here playing for us, but I think having got Dasun Shanaka as a replacement when we were told early, everyone should be extremely proud of themselves,” Sangakkara said during the post-match press conference.
He added that strict controls are necessary around such scenarios. “A proper tight policy around that is always a requirement. The BCCI has a strict policy on that. Every person goes through injuries, and if it’s a serious injury, (or) a season-ending injury, of course we understand,” he said.
Sangakkara also commended Rajasthan’s squad for its impressive run through IPL 2026. While he acknowledged the disappointment of missing out on the final, he highlighted the team’s collective effort and credited the contributions of several players across the season. “Yash had a great season, Brijesh had a very good season. But everyone around them, Yash to Riyan to Dhruv. Dhruv sometimes goes unnoticed, Don in the middle, Jofra Archer, Jadeja, Dube in a few games for us. Everyone who came in tried their best. So, I think from where we were last season to have got here, dragged ourselves here is a great sign,” Sangakkara said.
He further expressed pride in the group’s hard work and said the players had more to offer. “I think there’s a lot more in the tank for these players, but I can’t be prouder of a team than I am now. They’re a wonderful bunch of guys, highly skilled and they played really, really hard to get where they got to and where we got to. Unfortunately, we couldn’t make the final. I think they really played well enough to to have reached it, but GT was better on the day,” he concluded.
