The CSK all-rounder has not played for England since November 2024, when they faced West Indies in a T20I.
All-rounder Sam Curran is banking on a successful Indian Premier League (IPL) stint with Chennai Super Kings (CSK) this upcoming season as he hopes for an England recall. Curran has not played for England since featuring in a T20I against West Indies in November 2024.
This also meant that he missed England’s forgettable 2025 ICC Champions Trophy in Pakistan, where they crashed out in the group stage. In the aftermath of their exit, Jos Buttler also stepped down as captain. At he IPL 2025 meg auction last year, Chennai Super Kings acquired Curran for INR 2.40 crore.
“My main aim is probably just to get back into the (England white-ball) side,” Curran said on the Sky Sports Cricket Podcast. “With England, I guess I’ve never really found that perfect role. In the Champions Trophy and the series in India (at the start of 2025), there was no hiding that they stacked the batting in terms of playing a lot of batters and those extra quicks.
“I feel like if I get my role right with England, I’ll get back into it, who knows what will happen now. The cliché of (needing) runs and wickets is no debate, I’ve got to keep doing that,” added the Player of the Tournament in the 2022 T20 World Cup that England won.
While he is optimistic, the 26-year-old i not thinking too further ahead and i only taking it one step at a time.
“I feel in a really good space. I was obviously gutted when it happened, but I’m still pretty young and feel like I have matured when it comes to handling the bad stuff. Being a bit more experienced, reading situations better, I really hope I can get back into the team. There is only one way (to do that), hopefully I can have a really good IPL and see where we are in the summer,” explained Curran.
Curran has played 23 matches for Chennai Super Kings across 2020 and 2021, scoring 242 runs and taking 22 wickets. Curran withdrew from IPL 2022 due to national commitments but returned in 2023 to play for Punjab Kings (PBKS), a team he would represent in IPL 2024 as well.
Curran will also get the opportunity to test his captaincy skills when he leads Surrey in the Vitality T20 Blast tournament in England. In fact, England are also due to appoint a new T20I skipper, which means Curran will look to impress with his leadership skills.
Brendon McCullum, who is now England’s all-format head coach, had even said that he was open to the suggestion of having separate captains for ODIs and T20Is. “If it’s the same person, great, if it’s two, that’s great too. Give me a couple of weeks to work it out and get this thing back on track,” he had said after England’s Champions Trophy exit.
“Baz (McCullum) called me at the start when I did get left out, was clear and honest, and I respected that,” said Curran, who has not worked with the former New Zealand captain before.
“I’ve never worked under him, but he seems very honest and clear about (what he wants). He said I won’t be there right now but that didn’t mean the door was shut. It’s about going away, doing really well and performing.
“He was very honest in terms of what the balance of the side was and how I could have been in had they done it differently. I respect that more than the classic ‘you’re just a little bit unlucky to miss out’.
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Curran is still keeping his fingers crossed. “Sometimes as a player those ones that are a bit more brutal can be really good because you want to go and prove them wrong. Fingers crossed come June I’ll be back in the squads and performing,” he added.
Sam Curran has played 24 Tests, 35 ODIs and 58 T20Is till date for England. In the three respective formats, Curran has scored 815, 597 and 356 runs while also having taken 47, 33 and 54 wickets. Curran, however, has fallen out of favour in Tests, having played is last Test in August 2021 against India at Leeds.
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