“That is why we were so desperate to get him” - KKR head coach reveals why they bought Cameron Green in IPL 2026 auction

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) head coach Abhishek Nayar has revealed that they wanted to go all out for the Australian all-rounder Cameron Green in the IPL 2026 mini-auction, adding that there was no point in holding back on the money.

Notably, Green was acquired by the KKR franchise for a whopping INR 25.2 Crore as the all-rounder emerged as the most expensive overseas signing in IPL history, overtaking Mitchell Starc’s INR 24.75 crore bid by KKR earlier in IPL 2024 Auction.

"I cannot say how high we were willing to go for him, but we wanted to go all out. If we have the money, we spend it. There was no point in saving the money. The goal was to do whatever we could to secure Green, as he is a key player for us. With Andre Russell gone, we need someone to take the franchise forward. So, we decided we must have Cameron Green," Abhishek Nayar said on JioStar.

Furthermore, Nayar reckoned that Green would be slotted in the top three and expressed hope that he could continue the trend of top-order batters scoring 400-plus runs, which propelled them towards success in the IPL 2024 season when Sunil Narine and Phil Salt amassed more than 400 runs apiece.

"We see Cameron Green batting in the top three. He is a player who can score 500 runs for us. That is why we were so desperate to get him. We know he has that ability. He has scored over 500 runs in the IPL before, so he can do well in the top order. He solves different problems for us. Over the past few years, our success came when our top three players scored more than 400 runs. The hope is that he can score big runs for us," he added.

Green's best IPL season came way back in 2023 for the Mumbai Indians when he scored 452 runs from 16 innings at an average of 50.22 and a strike rate of 160.28 with the highest score of an unbeaten 100. With the ball, he scalped six wickets in that particular season.

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