Sam Curran withdrew from Rajasthan Royals in March, citing a groin injury with no return date. By May 22, he was playing for Surrey at the Kia Oval, scoring 32 against Lancashire. Three T20 Blast innings followed: 141 runs total. Kumar Sangakkara confirmed after Qualifier 2 that RR had been told Curran had a season-ending injury. The BCCI’s withdrawal policy covers players who quit without a valid reason. It has no clause for what happens when an injured player recovers and plays domestic cricket while the IPL season is still running.
What Sangakkara Actually Said About Curran
Sangakkara didn’t hide his frustration after Qualifier 2. RR had just lost to GT, ending their IPL 2026 campaign, and their director of cricket confirmed what had been circulating for days: Curran, who withdrew in March citing a season-ending groin injury, had played three T20 Blast matches for Surrey. Sangakkara told reporters he’d seen Curran play two or three games and called it “disappointing.” RR had wanted him in the squad.
The timing sharpens that frustration. Curran went public with his withdrawal on March 19, saying the injury had been worsening incrementally and that he had “no timeframe” for return. Scans had shown damage. He never used the phrase “season-ending injury” himself; that framing came from how the situation was communicated to RR. Within two months, he was batting for Surrey: 32 against Lancashire, 71* against Middlesex, 38 against Hampshire.
Sam Curran IPL 2026 Player Withdrawal Policy Gap
The BCCI policy on overseas withdrawals was announced on September 28, 2024. It carries two hard rules: any player who skips the mega auction becomes ineligible for the following year’s mini auction, and any player who registers, gets picked, and withdraws before the season starts without a valid reason faces a two-year ban from both the tournament and the auction.
The injury exemption is what protects Curran. The policy bans withdrawals made without a valid reason, and injury qualifies. What it doesn’t address is the scenario Curran created: a player who withdraws injured, sits out the full IPL season, and returns to domestic cricket while that season is still running. There is no BCCI rule covering that situation. Sangakkara called for a proper, tight policy around contractual obligations. The gap exists. It simply hasn’t been written into the rulebook.
Brook Got Banned. Curran Walked Free.
Two England players have triggered the BCCI’s two-year ban since the policy came into force. Harry Brook withdrew from Delhi Capitals in IPL 2025 to rest and focus on England cricket, then played the County Championship for Yorkshire. The ban was confirmed, and Brook is excluded from IPL auctions until after 2027. Ben Duckett followed in IPL 2026, withdrawing from DC to play for Nottinghamshire after a difficult Ashes. Signed for INR 2 crore, his expected ban runs until 2029.
Both withdrew for reasons the BCCI judged invalid: rest and form, not injury. Jason Roy never triggered the ban because he simply didn’t register for the IPL 2025 mega auction, making himself ineligible for the 2026 mini auction by default. Curran’s position is different from all three. He withdrew with an injury the policy recognises as valid. What happened after that withdrawal is where the rulebook runs out.
The Gap Nobody Has Closed Yet
Curran isn’t bowling for Surrey; he’s playing as a batter only, with the groin still managed through his first six Blast fixtures. That detail separates the optics from the substance. RR were told the season-ending. What they’re watching is a player scoring T20 runs two months later, without the bowling load that made him worth signing.
None of that resolves what RR lost. Dasun Shanaka replaced Curran at INR 2 crore. RR went out in Qualifier 2. Whether Curran’s presence changes that outcome is impossible to say. What isn’t impossible to say is that a franchise paid for an all-rounder, received a withdrawal framed as season-ending, and watched that player bat in T20 cricket two months later. The Sam Curran IPL 2026 player withdrawal Policy Gap didn’t break the rules as they’re written. It exposed exactly which rules haven’t been written yet.
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