Australian allrounder Cameron Green has been bought by Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) for INR 25.20 crore ($2.8 million) – making him the third most expensive player sold at an IPL auction, and the most expensive overseas player ever.
KKR, who began the auction with the largest purse of INR 64.3 crore, had to stave off competition from Chennai Super Kings, who had the second highest purse of INR 43.4 crore. The bidding for Green, though, began with Mumbai Indians (MI), who had to drop out of the race quickly because they had a purse of only INR 2.75 crore. Rajasthan Royals, who had a purse of INR 16.05 crore, took the bid as far as INR 13.40 crore before exiting, at which point CSK joined the bidding against KKR.
Green’s bid took more than ten minutes to complete, and he ranks behind Rishabh Pant (INR 27 crore) and Shreyas Iyer (INR 26.75 crore) on the list of most expensive IPL players. The most expensive overseas players before Green were Mitchell Starc (INR 24.75 crore) and Pat Cummins (INR 20.50 crore). Green, however, will get only INR 18 crore due to a maximum salary cap imposed by the IPL on overseas players at mini-auctions. The amount in excess of INR 18 crore (INR 7.2 crore) will go to the BCCI for player welfare.
Green first played the IPL in 2023, when MI bought him for INR 17.5 crore. He scored 452 runs at a strike rate of 160.28, and picked up six wickets. MI then traded Green to RCB a year later for the same price. He scored 255 runs for RCB at a strike rate of 143.25, and took 10 wickets. Green did not register for the mega auction ahead of IPL 2025 because he was returning from a back injury.
Green was one of only two players sold from the first set of batters on Tuesday, along with South African batter David Miller who went to Delhi Capitals at his base price of INR 2 crore. Jake-Fraser McGurk, Prithvi Shaw, Devon Conway and Sarfaraz Khan were unsold.
The lukewarm bidding continued into the second set of allrounders, with only two of seven players sold. Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) bought Sri Lanka’s Wanindu Hasaranga at his base price of INR 2 crore, and Venkatesh Iyer, who had been bought by KKR for INR 23.75 crore in the IPL 2025 auction, was sold to Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) for INR 7 crore. Liam Livingstone, Rachin Ravindra, Gus Atkinson, Wiaan Mulder and Deepak Hooda were unsold in the first set of allrounders.
There was more action in the first set of wicketkeepers, with MI buying South Africa’s Quinton de Kock, DC buying England’s Ben Duckett and KKR buying New Zealand’s Finn Allen; all at their base prices. CSK, who began the auction with the second largest purse, did not buy a player from the first three sets.
Players bought at auction
KKR: Cameron Green, Finn Allen
LSG: Wanindu Hasaranga
DC: David Miller, Ben Duckett
RCB: Venkatesh Iyer
MI: Quinton de Kock
CSK:
GT:
PBKS:
RR:
SRH:
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