The Sri Lankan all-rounder Dasun Shanaka is set to join the Rajasthan Royals as a replacement for Sam Curran for the IPL 2026 season.
Sam Curran, who joined the Royals in a trade that saw him and Jadeja exchanged for Sanju Samson with the Chennai Super Kings, was ruled out of the IPL 2026 season due to a groin injury.
A top official from the franchise confirmed the signing, saying, “Yes, we’re close to signing him. A few formalities are pending. He has to complete some paperwork with Sri Lankan Cricket (SLC)”
Shanaka went unsold during the IPL 2026 auction in December at Abu Dhabi and subsequently enrolled for the PSL auction, where he joined the Lahore Qalandars for PKR 75 lakhs.
Dasun Shanaka will be the second player for this season to shift to IPL from PSL if the Rajasthan Royals clinch the all-rounder. Earlier, Blessing Muzarabani pulled out of a contract with Islamabad United of PSL and joined Kolkata Knight Riders, who joined the side in the void left by Mustafizur Rahman.
The PSL has expressed strong opposal of jumping to IPL, as South Africa’s Corbin Bosch has been banned for a year after he left Peshawar Zalmi to joins Mumbai Indians last year.
Pakistan Cricket Board chief Mohsin Naqvi said, the board will pursue the cricketers who cancelled their PSL contracts to join the IPL.
“As far as this thing is concerned, we are taking action against them according to the rules. There was a case last year as well, this time there were 2-3 cases, it will be exactly the same as it was last year,” said Naqvi.
“Dasun’s signing is pending owing to his paperwork in the PSL, which is a formality. He is likely to join the squad in Guwahati,” said a report.
Under the captaincy of Dasun Shanaka, Sri Lanka got eliminated in the super 8s stages of the 2026 T20 World Cup. He scored 165 runs, including 76* runs of 31 deliveries against Pakistan and picked three wickets.
The Qalandars will reportedly replace Dasun Shanaka with Australia all-rounder Daniel Sams.
Rajasthan Royals Head coach Kumar Sangakkara is a Sri Lankan, while assistant coach Vikram Rathour worked with Sri Lanka as batting coach during the T20 World Cup, where Shanaka was the country’s captain.
According to IPL 2026 schedule, Rajasthan Royals will play their opener game against Chennai Super Kings on March 30 at Barsapara StadiumGuwahati.
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