Australia all-rounder Cameron Green has always been a hot topic in the IPL. More so in 2026 than in other years.
Green first came to the IPL in 2023 when the Mumbai Indians paid him ₹17.50 crores, making him the second most expensive player of all time in IPL history at the time. Green mostly repaid the faith with 452 runs in 16 matches at an average above 50 and strike rate over 160, including a century against Sunrisers Hyderabad.
The next year, he was traded away to Royal Challengers Bangalore at the same fee and repaid that faith as well. With 255 runs and 10 wickets, Green played a high-impact role as RCB turned their fortunes around. RCB went from just 1 win in 8 matches to qualifying for the playoffs in what was nothing short of a miracle.
An injury meant that Green was not retained by RCB and missed the 2025 mega auction. In 2026, he was naturally in very high demand for his all-round skills.
The Massive Auction Gamble Of KKR
After finishing eighth in IPL 2025, Kolkata Knight Riders decided it was time for a shakeup. Chandrakant Pandit was replaced by Abhisker Nayar as head coach. Shane Watson and Tim Southee joined the backroom, which already had Nayar and Dwayne Bravo.
Before the retention deadline, KKR took a massive call. Andre Russell, who had been with the franchise since 2013, was let go. As was Venkatesh Iyer. Iyer was declared KKR’s vice-captain in 2025 after being bought for ₹23.75 crore. Along with those two, KKR released a host of other underperforming overseas pros.
After all this, KKR were left with ₹64.30 crores in their purse and six overseas slots heading into the mini-auction for IPL 2026.
Before the auction, Russell called time on his IPL career and joined KKR’s backroom. KKR were on the lookout for a strong overseas player for their middle and lower orders who could set the stage for Rinku and Ramandeep Singh, among others. The bowling was just a plus.
Enter Cameron Green. At first, everyone thought that Green would play as just a batter and bowl since he was registered in the batters’ set. But he later explained that his manager had accidentally registered him in the wrong category, and he would bowl in IPL 2026.
That was the green light KKR needed to go ahead and shell out ₹25.20 crores for the Australian. KKR also spent ₹18 crore on Matheesha Pathirana and ₹9 crore on Mustafizur Rahman, although the latter’s acquisition didn’t go as planned.
The Bombshell KKR Didn’t Announce About Cameron Green
As KKR shaped up for their IPL season opener, they had to deal 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 Matheesha Pathirana was out for at least half the season. KKR then dug itself into a PR disaster after its first match.
Although Cameron Green made only 18 runs, fifties from Ajinkya Rahane and Angkrish Raghuvanshi pushed KKR to 220 against the Mumbai Indians. As Rohit Sharma and Ryan Rickelton bossed the chase around, KKR skipper Rahane turned to 6 different bowlers, but none of them were named Cameron Green.
When asked after the game why Green didn’t bowl, Rahane simply responded “Ask Cricket Australia.” There was expectedly furore over the comment and CA were forced to respond. The Australian board put out a statement saying that Cameron Green was slowly building his workload up and would require 10-12 days to get back to full tilt. The statement also said that KKR was aware of this.
Cameron Green’s Poor IPL 2026 Form
Green didn’t get to bowling until KKR’s fourth match of the season – against Lucknow Super Giants. By then, his batting form could not justify the fat paycheck either.
Against LSG, Green made an unbeaten 32 at a strike rate that was slower than what would have been ideal. He did take one wicket in the 2 overs he bowled, but those overs went for 28 runs, not something KKR could afford while defending 182.
Green came to bowl the 19th over with LSG needing 30 runs from the last two overs. Green conceded 16 runs to the rookie Mukul Choudhary, who eventually finished the match in the last over.
Cameron Green hasn’t been in the best form in IPL 2026. He made an important collapse, saving 79 against the Gujarat Titans, but KKR just did not have enough runs on the board. Overall, he has made 162 runs in 7 matches at an average of 27 and a strike rate of over 150 with one half-century.
His bowling was supposed to bring much-needed balance to the side, but that hasn’t been up to the mark. Green has managed 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 IPL’s Auction System Has a Fitness Loophole Nobody Wants to Fix
It is easy to say that KKR dug itself into a hole with this purchase. But they couldn’t have predicted Cameron Green’s poor form.
The biggest question to ask here is should there be something like a fitness certification before a player is eligible to register for the auction? The answer is not a simple yes or no, but there are major complications with ensuring a fitness certificate. Ideally, every player comes in with a ‘affidavit of their fitness, but that player could just as easily be injured later.
The auction is typically conducted months before the actual tournament, and it is not feasible to say that someone will or will not be injured during the tournament unless it’s a long-term injury like the one Cameron Green had in 2025. Someone failing a test in January could easily be fit by March or April. The converse is true as well.
These decisions should ideally be left up to the franchises, as they know the risks involved. Take 2026, for example, KKR have not signed a replacement for Harshit Rana because they thought they had enough backup in the pace department.
The second big question is, should players be receiving such big amounts? The auction system means that no one has control over their salaries unless they’re being traded away. The kind of money that the likes of Green, Shreyas Iyer, or Rishabh Pant receive is not the amount they necessarily asked for.
A huge 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 necessarily engaging in transparent communication. It’s not fair to say that KKR did this to themselves; they came with a plan, but poor health has dampened their plans.
