Jaipur: Towards the end of the IPL. In the tournament that started with 10 teams, the dream of 8 teams to win the trophy has been shattered. The final between Gujarat Titans and Royal Challengers Bangalore (GT vs RCB) on Sunday will see either team win the trophy. Rajasthan Royals on Friday became the eighth team to be knocked out of the tournament, the Ryan Parag-led side being beaten by Gujarat by 7 wickets in the second qualifier.
After the match, Rajasthan Royals coach Kumar Sangakkara directly pointed the finger at Sam Karan, who joined RR from CSK via trade, but did not play due to injury.
Rajasthan Royals sent Sanju Samson to Chennai Super Kings in a trade deal, replacing them with Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Karan. But after the T20 World Cup he suffered a groin injury IPL withdrew his name from Rajasthan replaced him with Sri Lankan all-rounder Dasun Shanaka.
After the Qualifier 2 loss to Gujarat Titans, Rajasthan Royals head coach Kumar Sangakkara expressed anger that Sam Karan was playing county for Surrey Team during IPL 2026. He said, “We were told that Sam Curran’s injury is serious, and will not recover till the end of IPL 2026. I saw him play 2-3 matches for Surrey, which was disappointing. We wanted to see him play in our team.” Although he also said that it was good that they were informed in advance, so that they could find his replacement.
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Sam Curran has captained Surrey in the three matches played so far and is the highest run-scorer in the T20 Blast tournament. He said about his injury a few days ago, ‘There is no telling when I will be fully recovered.’ He said that the scan showed the injury to be serious, so he had to decide to withdraw from IPL 2026.
Vaibhav Suryavanshi has had a great season for Rajasthan Royals, scoring 776 runs in 16 innings. He holds the Orange Cap till the final, second and third are Shubman Gill (722) and Sai Sudarshan (710). Gill and Sudarshan are also fighting for the Orange Cap.
