&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "IPL 2026: Sri Lanka's Dasun Shanaka to replace injured Sam Curran at Rajasthan Royals - Report")
Sri Lanka’s Dasun Shanaka is all set to break his contract with Pakistan Super League (PSL) side Lahore Qalandars and join Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Rajasthan Royals. After Sam Curran’s injury ruled him out of the entire IPL 2026 season, Shanaka has emerged as a perfect fit for the 2008 champions. As per media reports, the move is now underway with exit formalities with Qalandars already underway. It is also learnt that Daniel Sams will join the Qalandars as Shanaka’s replacement.
Shanaka to join Rajasthan Royals
Curran, who was part of a pre-auction trade between Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and RR in which CSK acquired Sanju Samson and RR also got Ravindra Jadeja, has a groin issue, which has ruled him out of the tournament.
Shanaka, a lower-order batter and medium-pace bowler who led Sri Lanka at the recent T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka, comes in with good batting form: he hit a 20-ball 50 against Oman and 76 not out in 31 balls against Pakistan. He has played one season of the IPL in the past, in 2023, when he played three games for the Gujarat Titans (GT) with unspectacular returns.
He becomes the second player to walk away from his PSL team to join an IPL franchise in the past few days after Blessing Muzarabani opted out of his deal with Islamabad United once Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) reached out to him to be a replacement for Mustafizur Rahman, who the team had to release on instructions from the BCCI because of geopolitical tensions between India and Bangladesh.
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For RR, Shanaka joins a strong list of overseas players, the others being Shimron Hetmyer, Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Donovan Ferreira, Jofra Archer, Nandre Burger, Kwena Maphaka and Adam Milne.
RR, who finished one off the bottom last season, begin their IPL 2026 campaign next Monday, March 30, in Guwahati against CSK.
