Cameron Green fetched the highest fee ever for an overseas player at the IPL auction in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday.
The all-rounder landed a salary of INR 25.2 crore (around $2.8 million) to play for Kolkata Knight Riders in the 2026 season.
The 26-year-old Australian, who had erroneously been listed as a batter for the auction by his manager, benefitted from a bidding war in the first session of the event at Etihad Arena.
Initially, KKR and Rajasthan Royals went head to head. Once the bid had gone beyond Rajasthan, Chennai Super Kings entered the contest to raise the price yet further.
The final fee trumped the previous record for a foreign player to play in the Indian T20 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).
David Miller had been the first player of the day bought. The South African batter went to Delhi Capitals for INR 2 crore (around $220,000).
