The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) broke the bank to bring in talented Australian allrounder Cameron Green to their IPL 2026 squad. However, Aussie batting legend Ricky Ponting is not convinced about spending such an amount on one player:
“It’s actually quite hard to get a gauge on him yet as an international player. He averages under 30 in Australia now. His career average is just over 30. He’s made two Test match hundreds in 30-odd Test matches. He’s had back surgery, and his bowling pace is probably not quite what it was 12 months ago,” Ponting said while responding to questions during an interview.
Ponting’s comments appeared to suggest ₹25.20 crore was too high a price for KKR at the last auction.
Ponting Admits Green Has a “Very Complete Package” Ahead of IPL 2026
The current Punjab Kings (PBKS) head coach was not fully critical of KKR’s move for Green. He describes his compatriot as a complete package if all major factors align to guarantee immediate success for him this season:
“But there is a very complete package there if it all comes together. And we’ve seen him play some pretty remarkable innings. He made an incredible 100 in New Zealand last year. He’s got 100 in India as well, albeit on a very, very flat pitch,” Ponting added.
PBKS Coach Shares Word of Advice to Green
Coach Ponting appears to value Green’s inclusion in the IPL roster enough to offer him words of advice, even as an opponent:
“The biggest challenge he has is, he’s just got to find out the right way and right style for him to play, work out what’s going to work for him, and then commit to that and stick to it for a long period of time,” coach Ponting also said.
Cameron Green Last 10 IPL Performances
Green fired on all cylinders for a major part of his IPL 2024 stint before missing out on the next season due to injury problems. The Aussie allrounder’s last appearance in the IPL came against Rajasthan Royals (RR) during the IPL 2024 Eliminator game.
Green secured 27 runs off 21 balls and bagged a wicket to cap off an impressive performance in India’s top-flight league. Check out the breakdown of his last individual contributions below:
| # | 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
The Knight Riders can draw confidence from Green’s last performance at international level after recovering from his injuries. The star player continues to contribute with the bat and ball to ensure his side secure an edge over opposition teams.
| Match | Batting Score | Bowling Figures | Date | Ground | Format |
| Australia v England | 0 & 7 | 1/33 & 0/44 | 17 Dec 2025 | Adelaide | Test |
| Australia v England | 45 | 0/43 & 0/15 | 04 Dec 2025 | Brisbane | Test |
| Australia v England | 2 & 4 | 1/10 & 0/13 | 21 Nov 2025 | Perth | Test |
| WA v Queensland | 94 & 17 | 1/13 & 0/17 | 11 Nov 2025 | Perth (WACA) | First Class |
| WA v S Australia | 0 & 41 | — | 28 Oct 2025 | Perth (WACA) | First Class |
| WA v NSW | 19 & 24 | 1/13 | 04 Oct 2025 | Perth (WACA) | First Class |
| Australia v S/Africa | 118 | — | 24 Aug 2025 | Mackay | ODI |
| Australia v S/Africa | 35 | — | 22 Aug 2025 | Mackay | ODI |
| Australia v S/Africa | 3 | — | 19 Aug 2025 | Cairns | ODI |
| Australia v 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.
