England all-rounder Sam Curran was set to play for the Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the ongoing IPL 2026 tournament. He, along with Ravindra Jadeja, was traded to RR from Chennai Super Kings (CSK) before the IPL 2026 auction.

However, Sam Curran suffered an injury during the T20 World Cup 2026 and had to make the tough decision to pull out of his commitment to RR for the IPL 2026.

Now, Curran has revealed that he was carrying a groin injury during England’s T20 World Cup 2026 campaign and had to undergo scans after England lost to India in the semifinal to assess the damage. The results led to him being advised to rest and rehab, leading to him pulling out of IPL 2026.

“It's an injury that I've kind of been battling with a little bit. It has gradually gotten 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. To miss the IPL was very disappointing, and now I guess I just have a rehab block of trying to get strong and fit for whenever it feels right,” Curran told BBC.

Meanwhile, RR has signed Dasun Shanaka as Curran’s replacement for INR 2 crores.

Curran, who played all 8 games for England in the T20 World Cup 2026, couldn’t confirm if he’ll be fit enough to lead Surrey County in the upcoming T20 Blast.

“It's all going to come down to symptoms. It is obviously still a way off from that. I guess it is probably my first time to do a bit of rehab now back in England; it will be tough to watch the IPL because I know that I'd like to have been there, but injuries are part of sport,” he added.

Apart from Curran, his England teammate Ben Duckett also pulled out of his IPL 2026 deal with the Delhi Capitals to focus on his England career. Duckett is set to be banned from the tournament for the next two years for his last-minute decision.