4 min readApr 7, 2026 12:55 PM IST
After another under-par performance with the bat for Kolkata Knight Riders from Cameron Green, former England cricketer Kevin Pietersen has said that the Australian all-rounder is ‘not good enough’ to bat at number three. So far after three games in IPL 2026, Green has scored 18 and two runs in Knight Riders’ opening two matches while being unavailable to bowl. On Monday evening, at a rain-affected IPL game at the Eden Gardens the Australian all-rounder could only score four runs against the Punjab Kings.
“I’m against talking about money because money is something that just happens. These guys don’t earn as much money as some of the other sportsmen around the world. But obviously, a lot of people like to talk about what I like to talk about, which is cricketing ability. And whether or not you’re good enough to be in a position of power and batting a 3 in an IPL team, you have to be good enough to be able to perform at that level. And I don’t think that he’s good enough to bat at number 3. He’s not bowling, so you have a look at what he has done. Yes, I’ve seen him, he got a 100 in Mumbai a couple of years ago. I’ve not seen enough of Cam Green to warrant batting at 3 here and taking on that responsibility. He’s a middle-order batter who bowls a bit, and that’s what he does,” Pietersen said on JioHotstar during the rain break in the match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Punjab Kings.
Green was bought by KKR for Rs 25.20 crore in last year’s mini IPL auction, which made the all-rounder the most expensive foreign player in the league. Green has previously played for Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bengaluru in IPL and had missed the 2025 season due to back surgery. He averaged 41.48 and took 16 wickets at an average of 41.50 in 29 IPL matches prior to this season.
In 28 T20Is for Australia, Green has scored a total of 638 runs at an average of 29.00 and has taken 14 wickets at an average of 25.00. The 26-year-old all-rounder has not bowled in recent months. Last week, when Kolkata Knight Riders skipper Ajinkya Rahane was asked about Green not bowling in IPL this season so far, Rahane had replied, “Ask Cricket Australia”.
Later, Cricket Australia;ia had shared that the Australian all-rounder’s lower back injury requires him to abstain from bowling for a short period. “Cameron has a lower back injury which is being managed but requires him to abstain from bowling for a short period. Cameron is currently rebuilding his bowling loads in India with a view to return in around 10-12 days’ time. KKR has been communicated with and is fully aware of this information,” a Cricket Australia spokesperson had told PTI.
Former India batting coach Sanjay Bangar believes the KKR team management should go in for a specialist batsman like Rovman Powell if Green is not available to bowl.
“You have to think of the specialists. If you think of Rachindra Ravindra and Cameron Green, they are not necessarily proven T20 players, and when you are picking overseas players, they have to be specialists because there are only four spots available. So, if you look at who is the ideal player, if Cameron Green is not bowling, then he doesn’t fit into that, you know, just a batsman category as far as an overseas batter is concerned. So, you might as well think of Rovman Powell, who is a proven T20 specialist who bats and does a very specialised job. So, I like Powell for the fact that he is a specialist, does a role, and he is a proven commodity rather than hoping that someone would come good,” Bangar said on JioHotstar.
