The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) grabbed international headlines with their successful ₹ 25.2 crore bid for Australian cricketer Cameron Green. He was listed for a base price of ₹2 crore, but bidding for Green immediately took an unsurprising turn as several franchises scrambled to secure his services.
Every franchise of note sought to bring the talented all-rounder to their squad, but KKR eclipsed other bidders with their mammoth bid. However, there’s a twist to the offer made for Green’s services, as he will only receive ₹18 crore after this big-money bid.
Why Will Cameron Get ₹18 Crore from the ₹25.2 Crore KKR Paid for Him?
A salary cap exists for foreign players in all IPL franchises. Every overseas player can only receive up to ₹18 crore for their services, regardless of total fees paid by the winning franchise.
The BCCI placed salary caps for foreign players to prevent overinflated values for overseas talent at mini auctions.
Why Did KKR Bid Over ₹20 Crore for Green?
KKR aimed to fill the void Andre Russell left after exiting IPL cricket in 2025. The star Windies cricketer spent over a decade with the purple and gold franchise, creating several memorable moments along the way. Russell was instrumental to KKR’s campaign with the bat and ball as they strolled to their third-ever IPL title in 2024.
Green has the skillsets and overall talent set to replace Russell in one of KKR’s most-demanding roles in recent years.
Cameron Green is Third Among Most-Expensive Cricketers in IPL Auction History
KKR’s mammoth bid for Green places him third among the most-expensive cricketers at auctions in IPL history. 3 out of 5 highest-ever bids for a player at auctions came from the franchise in recent years.
| Rank | Player | Team | Price (₹ Crore) | Auction Year |
| 1 | Rishabh Pant | Lucknow Super Giants | ₹27.00 | 2025 (Mega) |
| 2 | Shreyas Iyer | Punjab Kings | ₹26.75 | 2025 (Mega) |
| 3 | Cameron Green | Kolkata Knight Riders | ₹25.20 | 2026 (Mini) |
| 4 | Mitchell Starc | Kolkata Knight Riders | ₹24.75 | 2024 (Mini) |
| 5 | Venkatesh Iyer | Kolkata Knight Riders | ₹23.75 | 2025 (Mega) |
Cameron Green’s Last 10 IPL Performances
Green delivered a memorable campaign during IPL 2024 to trigger a bidding war for his services 2 years later. The skilled Australian last featured in IPL cricket during the Eliminator encounter vs Rajasthan Royals (RR). He took the scalp of RR’s Dhruv Jurel in that game before missing out on the whole 2025 season.
| # | Match Context | Batting | Bowling Figures | Economy | Wickets Taken |
| 1 | Eliminator vs RR | 27 (21) | 1/28 | 7.00 | Dhruv Jurel |
| 2 | Match 68 vs CSK | 38 (17) | 1/18 | 9.00 | Shivam Dube |
| 3 | Match 62 vs DC | 32 (24) | 1/19 | 6.33 | Tristan Stubbs |
| 4 | Match 58 vs PBKS | 46 (27) | 0/16 | 8.00 | – |
| 5 | Match 52 vs GT | 1 (2) | 1/28 | 9.33 | Sai Sudharsan |
| 6 | Match 45 vs GT | 0 (0) | 0/42 | 14.00 | – |
| 7 | Match 41 vs SRH | 37 (20) | 2/12 | 6.00 | Pat Cummins, Bhuvneshwar Kumar |
| 8 | Match 36 vs KKR | 6 (4) | 2/35 | 8.75 | Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Venkatesh Iyer |
| 9 | Match 19 vs RR | 5 (6) | 0/27 | 13.50 | – |
| 10 | Match 15 vs LSG | 9 (9) | 0/25 | 12.50 | – |
Cameron Green Last 10 Performances across Formats
Green has been in fine form with the bat and ball in recent games while preparing for his return to IPL action. IPL fans have something exciting to look forward to next season as Green has been above-decent across outing in the last 3 months.
| Match | Batting Score | Bowling Figures | Date | Ground | Format |
| Australia vs England | 0 & 7 | 1/33 & 0/44 | 17 Dec 2025 | Adelaide | Test (Ashes) |
| Australia vs England | 45 | 0/43 & 0/15 | 04 Dec 2025 | Brisbane | Test (Ashes) |
| Australia vs England | 2 & 4 | 1/10 & 0/13 | 21 Nov 2025 | Perth | Test (Ashes) |
| WA vs Queensland | 94 & 17 | 1/13 & 0/17 | 11 Nov 2025 | Perth (WACA) | First Class |
| WA vs S Australia | 0 & 41 | — | 28 Oct 2025 | Perth (WACA) | First Class |
| WA vs NSW | 19 & 24 | 1/13 | 04 Oct 2025 | Perth (WACA) | First Class |
| Australia vs S/Africa | 118 | — | 24 Aug 2025 | Mackay | ODI |
| Australia vs S/Africa | 35 | — | 22 Aug 2025 | Mackay | ODI |
| Australia vs S/Africa | 3 | — | 19 Aug 2025 | Cairns | ODI |
| Australia vs S/Africa | 9 | — | 16 Aug 2025 | Cairns | T20I |
Full Kolkata Knight Riders IPL 2026 Squad
Players Bought at Auction
Cameron Green (₹ 25.20 crore), Matheesha Pathirana (₹ 18 crore), Mustafizur Rahman (₹ 9.20 crore), Tejasvi Singh (₹ 3 crore), Finn Allen (₹ 2 crore), Tim Seifert (₹ 1.50 crore), Rahul Tripathi (75 lakh), Kartik Tyagi (₹ 30 lakh), Daksh Kamra (₹ 30 lakh), Sarthak Ranjan (₹ 30 lakh), Prashant Solanki (₹ 30 lakh), Akashdeep (₹ 1 crore), Rachin Ravindra (₹ 2 crore).
Retained Players
Ajinkya Rahane, Sunil Narine, Rinku Singh, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Manish Pandey, Varun Chakravarthy, Ramandeep Singh, Ankul Roy, Rovman Powell, Harshit Rana, Vaibhav Arora, Umran Malik.
