Cameron Green and Matheesha Pathirana cash in after IPL auction spree in Abu Dhabi

Duo attract eye-watering bids as Kolkata Knight Riders spend big at Etihad Arena ahead of 2026 season

Cameron Green, left, and Matheesha Pathirana were snapped up by Kolkata Knight Riders in Abu Dhabi. AFP / Getty Images

Kolkata Knight Riders lavished two of the highest fees ever on overseas players as Cameron Green and Matheesha Pathirana enjoyed bumper pay days at the IPL auction.

Early on a heady day of bidding at Etihad Arena ahead of the 2026 season, KKR smashed the record for the biggest salary for a foreign player.

After a three-way tussle also involving Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings, Green, the Australia all-rounder, was eventually bought for INR 25.2 crore (around $2.8 million).

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That exceeded the previous highest amount for a foreign player to figure in the Indian franchise league.

That was INR 24.75 crore (around $2.7m) paid by the same franchise to recruit Mitchell Starc, Green’s Australia teammate, last season.

Green will not receive that total amount. The money overseas players can receive is capped at 18 crore (around $2m); beyond that, the money is redirected to the Indian board’s player development programme.

It means Green now has two of the four highest fees for overseas players in the league’s history. Three seasons ago he was recruited by Mumbai Indians for INR 17.5 crore (around $1.9m).

“I think we were quite happy with the price at which we got him,” Venky Mysore, the managing director of KKR, said.

“There was always a concern that had it gone higher, what we would have done. I think the fact is, we were very keen, but not so attached.

“At some level if you felt that it could affect the rest of the auction, we would have let it go. Fortunately, that didn’t happen, and it came within the range that we were looking at.”

Later in the afternoon, KKR had their chequebook out again as they ended another bidding war by paying INR 18 crore (around $2m) for Pathirana. That was the fourth highest fee for an overseas player in the league’s history.

Pathirana had given a timely reminder to potential IPL suitors the previous evening in the DP World International League in Sharjah.

The Sri Lankan fast bowler was named player of the match as Sharjah Warriorz beat Gulf Giants in the UAE’s own T20 franchise league.

His captain at the Warriorz, Tim Southee, had been absent from the fixture in Sharjah, and so missed Pathirana’s match-winning return of three for 19.

The New Zealander was, however, part of the KKR delegation at the auction in Abu Dhabi. Southee is the bowling coach for the franchise. He must have been impressed by what he has seen from his Warriorz teammate during the ILT20.

The handsome salary is reward for a 22-year-old fast bowler who has been battling back to full fitness and form following injury.

“The last few months were challenging, but I’ve worked hard and I’m gradually finding my rhythm,” Pathirana had said after the game in Sharjah.

“I’m not at my best yet, but I’m improving, and this performance gives me a lot of confidence.”

Aside from the two headline arrivals, the Kolkata franchise did see one valued squad member depart. Venkatesh Iyer has made his name at the franchise, but they were powerless to stop him joining Royal Challengers Bangalore.

The all-rounder left KKR in a INR 7 crore deal, and Mysore said he will be dearly missed.

“He's been a terrific player for us, and will be really missed,” Mysore said. “It's just one of these things that happens in an auction when you're faced with an option, you have opportunities to think about your strategy.

“And if that strategy is taking you in a slightly different direction, sometimes these are things that happen. It is not for the first time or the last time for us, or for that matter, other teams. It's a bit sad for us, but that's the way all of these things go.”

A further record was broken twice in a matter of minutes in the afternoon session. Prashant Veer, a highly rated all-rounder from Uttar Pradesh, was bought by CSK for INR 14.2 crore (about $1.6m).

That made the 20-year-old left-hander the most expensive uncapped Indian player in the competition’s 17-year history.

His record did not even last the session of the auction. He will be joined at the franchise by Kartik Sharma, a 19-year-old batter, for the same fee.