JUST IN: Rajasthan Royals appoint Kumar Sangakkara as head coach for IPL 2026

Kumar Sangakkara will replace Rahul Dravid as RR’s head coach in IPL 2026.

Rajasthan Royals (RR) have appointed Kumar Sangakkara as the head coach for Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026. The former Sri Lanka captain, who holds the post of RR’s Director of Cricket, has been handed the additional position and will replace Rahul Dravid as head coach.

Sangakkara has been part of RR since IPL 2021, when he was first appointed as the Director of Cricket and head coach. He continued with both posts till IPL 2024. Ahead of IPL 2025, the franchise appointed Dravid as the new head coach.

However, the former India captain quit the role after the team’s dismal show last season despite having a multi-year deal. Royals finished at the ninth spot in the points table in IPL 2025 with eight points, winning just four games out of 14 encounters. RR also offered a broader internal role to Dravid, which he declined to go ahead with.

Rajasthan Royals appoint Kumar Sangakkara as the head coach for IPL 2026

The IPL 2008 champions revealed the appointment of Sangakkara as the head coach in an official post on X (formerly Twitter) on Monday, November 17. The franchise shared a short video on their official account, revealing that Sangakkara will don the role of Director of Cricket as well as head coach in the next season.

Speaking on Sangakkara’s appointment as head coach, RR owner Manoj Badale said, “As we looked at what the team needed at this stage, we felt that his familiarity within the squad, his leadership and his deep understanding of the Royals culture would bring the right balance of continuity and stability. Kumar has always had our complete trust as a leader. His clarity, calmness and cricketing intelligence will play an important role in guiding the squad into this next phase.”

Meanwhile, Vikram Rathore has been promoted as the lead assistant coach by RR for IPL 2026, while Shane Bond will continue as the bowling coach. Also, Trevor Penney and Sid Lahiri will return as the assistant coach and performance coach respectively.

Notably, Sangakkara’s appointment comes just a couple of days after RR parted ways with their former captain Sanju Samson. In a big trade deal with Chennai Super Kings (CSK), RR traded out Samson to the five-time champions.

In return, they roped in all-rounders Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran. After Samson’s ouster, RR will need a new face to captain the side in the next season. Some reports have suggested that Jadeja is highly likely to be the RR’s captain for the next season. The Indian all-rounder has returned to the side after a gap of 17 years, having played for the franchise in the first two editions in 2008 and 2009.

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