Australian all-rounder Cameron Green has always been a hot topic in the IPL. It will be higher in 2026 compared to other years.
Green first came to the IPL in 2023 when Mumbai Indians paid him ₹17.50 crore, making him the second most expensive player in IPL history at that time. Green repaid the faith by scoring 452 runs in mostly 16 matches at an average above 50 and a strike rate of over 160, including a century against Sunrisers Hyderabad.
The next year, he was sold to Royal Challengers Bangalore for the same fee and he repaid that faith. With 255 runs and 10 wickets, Green played a high-impact role as RCB turned their fortunes around. RCB qualified for the playoffs with just 1 win in 8 matches, which was nothing short of a miracle.
Green was not retained by RCB due to injury and missed the 2025 mega auction. In 2026, his all-round skills were naturally in high demand.
KKR’s big auction bet
After finishing eighth in IPL 2025, Kolkata Knight Riders decided it was time for a change. Abhishek Nair was made the head coach in place of Chandrakant Pandit. Shane Watson and Tim Southee joined the backroom, with Nair and Dwayne Bravo already present.
KKR took a big decision before the retention deadline. Andre Russell, who had been with the franchise since 2013, was let go. As was Venkatesh Iyer. Iyer was announced as the vice-captain of KKR in 2025 after being bought for ₹23.75 crore. Along with those two, KKR also released several other underperforming foreign players.
After all this, KKR were left with ₹64.30 crore in the purse and six overseas slots in the mini-auction for IPL 2026.
Ahead of the auction, Russell bid goodbye to his IPL career and joined KKR’s backroom. KKR was looking for a strong overseas player for their middle and lower order who could set the platform for Rinku and Ramandeep Singh, among others. Bowling was just a plus.
Enter Cameron Green. At first, everyone thought that Green would just play as a batsman and bowl as he was registered in the batsmen’s set. But later he told that his manager had mistakenly registered him in the wrong category and he will bowl in IPL 2026.
This was the green light KKR needed to go ahead and spend ₹25.20 crore for the Australian. KKR spent ₹18 crore on Mathiesha Pathirana and ₹9 crore on Mustafizur Rahman, although the latter acquisition did not go according to plan.
Shocking KKR did not make any announcement regarding Cameron Green
As KKR prepared for the start of their IPL season, they had to grapple with one crisis after another. First, the BCCI ordered them to release Mustafizur Rahman, although they were allowed to sign Blessing Muzarabani to replace him.
Harshit Rana was then ruled out of the entire season, and Mathisha Pathirana was ruled out for at least half the season. KKR got themselves into a PR disaster after their first match.
Although Cameron Green scored only 18 runs, half-centuries from Ajinkya Rahane and Angkrish Raghuvanshi took KKR to 220 against Mumbai Indians. As Rohit Sharma and Ryan Rickelton took over the responsibility of chasing the target, KKR captain Rahane turned to 6 different bowlers but none of them named Cameron Green.
After the game, when Rahane was asked why Green did not bowl, he simply replied, “Ask Cricket Australia.” The comment predictably caused an uproar and CA was forced to respond. The Australian board issued a statement saying that Cameron Green is gradually increasing his workload and will need 10-12 days to fully return. The statement also said that KKR was aware of this.
Cameron Green’s poor IPL 2026 form
Green did not get a chance to bowl until KKR’s fourth match of the season – against Lucknow Super Giants. By then, even his batting form could not justify a hefty salary.
Against LSG, Green scored 32 not out at a strike rate that was slower than ideal. He took one wicket in the 2 overs he bowled, but 28 runs were conceded in those overs, not something KKR could afford while defending 182 runs.
Green came to bowl the 19th over while LSG needed 30 runs in the last two overs. Green conceded 16 runs to debutant Mukul Choudhary, who eventually finished the match in the last over.
Cameron Green is not in the best form in IPL 2026. He made a crucial collapse, saving 79 runs against Gujarat Titans, but KKR did not have enough runs on the board. Overall, he has scored 162 runs in 7 matches at an average of 27 and a strike rate of over 150 and one half-century.
His bowling should have brought the necessary balance to the team, but it did not live up to expectations. Green has been able to take just one wicket at a bowling average of 85 and an economy of more than 14 runs per over.
The ₹25 crore problem that goes beyond Cameron Green: Why the IPL auction system has a fitness loophole no one wants to fix
It is easy to say that KKR dug itself into a hole with this purchase. But they could not have predicted Cameron Green’s poor form.
The biggest question to ask here is whether there should be something like fitness certification before a player can register for the auction? The answer is not a simple yes or no, but there are huge complexities in ensuring a fitness certificate. Ideally, each player comes with an affidavit of his fitness, but that player can easily get injured later.
The auctions are usually held a few months before the actual tournament, and it is not possible to say whether someone will or will not get injured during the tournament, unless it is a long-term injury like Cameron Green in 2025. Someone who fails the test in January can easily fit in by March or April. The opposite is also true.
These decisions should ideally be left to the franchisees, as they know the risks involved. Take 2026, for example, KKR have not signed a replacement for Harshit Rana because they felt they had enough backup in the pace department.
The second big question is whether players should get such a huge amount? The auction system means that no one has control over their salary until their deal is made. The kind of money that the likes of Green, Shreyas Iyer or Rishabh Pant get is not the amount they necessarily asked for.
A big paycheck comes with pressures that no one would want to deal with. As far as Cameron Green’s injury situation is concerned, KKR took a risk without engaging in transparent communication. It is not fair to say that KKR did this to themselves; He came up with a plan, but ill health put an end to his plans.
Also Read: KKR to release Cameron Green, Sanju Samson to replace Ruturaj Gaikwad as CSK captain: Bold predictions from former New Zealand star
