If there is anything such as favouritism going into an auction, Cameron Green comprehensively lived up to it, triggering a fierce bidding war that culminated in him becoming the most expensive overseas player in IPL history at rs 25.20 crore. The 26-year-old Australian was always going to be a hot property, given the all-round skills he brings with him, and it was expected that Kolkata Knight Riders and Chennai Super Kings, the two franchises with the most money left, would go hammer and tongs.
Unsurprisingly, KKR made the early running after the Mumbai Indians opened the bidding at the big Aussie’s base price of ₹2 crore. CSK did not enter the fray until the sum had ballooned to ₹13.60 crore, and were involved in a dogfight with the 2024 champions before dropping out of the race at ₹25 crore, which was more than half their remaining amount of ₹43.40 crore.
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Green has been involved in the IPL previously, with the Royal Challengers Bengaluru and the Mumbai Indians, and on both occasions, his teams made it to the playoffs. KKR will be hoping to go at least one better, especially given that Green has now started bowling after recovering fully from back surgery that kept him out of the last edition of the tournament.
Only Rishabh Pant ( ₹27 crore) and Shreyas Iyer ( ₹26.75 crore) have attracted higher bids in all IPLs in the past. Green will add great depth and value to KKR, who offloaded a host of big names after last year, and should be a firm favourite to bat in the top three, at the very least, where he is at his most destructive.
{{/usCountry}}Only Rishabh Pant ( ₹27 crore) and Shreyas Iyer ( ₹26.75 crore) have attracted higher bids in all IPLs in the past. Green will add great depth and value to KKR, who offloaded a host of big names after last year, and should be a firm favourite to bat in the top three, at the very least, where he is at his most destructive.
{{/usCountry}}Venkatesh Iyer, for whom KKR dished out ₹23.75 crore last year before releasing him back into the auction pool this time, was also the object of a bidding contest, though that was not as intense as the one involving Green. The betting process was initially tepid until RCB and KKR got going. After much deliberation, KKR bowed out of the race at ₹6.80 crore, which meant RCB secured the Madhya Pradesh all-rounder’s services for ₹7 crore. It was a huge comedown for Venkatesh from the high of last year, but unlike Prithvi Shaw and Sarfaraz Khan, he wasn’t ignored in the first round, which he will take as a win.