- Kolkata Knight Riders win bidding war to secure Australian allrounder Cameron Green
- Prashant Veer and Kartik Sharma break record for most expensive uncapped Indians at IPL auction
- Auction highlights include KKR’s Matheesha Pathirana and high-value accelerated round buys
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have made IPL history by buying Australian allrounder Cameron Green for INR 25.20 crore ($2.8 million/AUD 4.2 million approx.), making him the most expensive overseas player ever and the third-most costly player in IPL auction history. The deal came after a tense bidding war with Chennai Super Kings (CSK), who had the second-largest purse at INR 43.4 crore.
KKR also secured the second-most expensive player of the auction, Sri Lankan fast bowler Matheesha Pathirana for INR 18 crore. The team began with the largest auction purse of INR 64.3 crore and strategically outbid rivals to land two marquee players. Green, returning from a back injury that kept him out of IPL 2025, previously played for Mumbai Indians (2023) and RCB (2024), scoring heavily and contributing with the ball. Due to IPL salary caps for overseas players, Green will receive INR 18 crore, with the remainder going to the BCCI for player welfare.
While the big-name overseas signings grabbed headlines, uncapped Indian players stole the show. CSK splashed INR 14.2 crore each for 20-year-old left-arm spinner Prashant Veer and 19-year-old wicketkeeper Kartik Sharma, surpassing Avesh Khan’s 2022 record of INR 10 crore for an uncapped Indian player. Jammu & Kashmir pacer Auqib Nabi also impressed, going to Delhi Capitals for INR 8.4 crore.
The early sets of players saw limited action. Only Cameron Green and South Africa’s David Miller were sold from the first set of batters, with other big names like Prithvi Shaw, Devon Conway, and Sarfaraz Khan initially unsold. Among allrounders, KKR picked Venkatesh Iyer for INR 7 crore, and CSK later scooped up Sarfaraz Khan at his base price of INR 75 lakh. Accelerated rounds saw high-value buys including Jason Holder (GT, INR 7 crore), Mustafizur Rahman (KKR, INR 9.2 crore), Rahul Chahar (CSK, INR 5.2 crore), and Josh Inglis (LSG, INR 8.6 crore).
KKR’s auction strategy underlined the importance of planning and patience. Coach Stephen Fleming explained, “You see good players going at low prices early on, but sticking to your plan is key. Otherwise, it’s like an ice cream store, you end up with too many scoops.” The auction demonstrated a blend of big-money international stars and emerging Indian talent, setting the stage for an IPL 2026 season filled with excitement and unpredictability.
Players bought at auction:
KKR: Cameron Green, Finn Allen, Matheesha Pathirana, Tejasvi Dahiya, Kartik Tyagi, Prashant Solanki, Rahul Tripathi, Tim Seifert, Mustafizur Rahman, Sarthak Ranjan, Daksh Kamra, Rachin Ravindra, Akash Deep
LSG: Wanindu Hasaranga, Anrich Nortje, Mukul Choudhary, Naman Tiwari, Akshat Raghuwanshi, Josh Inglis
DC: David Miller, Ben Duckett, Auqib Nabi, Pathum Nissanka, Lungi Ngidi, Prithvi Shaw
RCB: Venkatesh Iyer, Jacob Duffy, Satwik Deswal, Mangesh Yadav, Jordan Cox, Vicky Ostwal, Luke Wood, Vihaan Malhotra, Kanishk Chouhan
MI: Quinton de Kock, Danish Malewar, Mohammed Izhar, Atharva Ankolekar, Mayank Rawat
RR: Ravi Bishnoi, Sushant Mishra, Yash Raj Punja, Vignesh Puthur, Ravi Singh, Aman Rao, Brijesh Sharma, Adam Milne, Kuldeep Sen
CSK: Akeal Hosein, Kartik Sharma, Prashant Veer, Matthew Short, Aman Khan, Sarfaraz Khan, Matt Henry, Rahul Chahar, Zak Foulkes
GT: Ashok Sharma, Jason Holder, Tom Banton, Prthvi Raj
SRH: Shivang Kumar, Salil Arora, Sakib Hussain, Omkar Tarmale, Amit Kumar, Praful Hinge, Krains Fuletra, Liam Livingstone, Shivam Mavi, Jack Edwards
PBKS: Cooper Connolly, Ben Dwarshuis, Praveen Dubey, Vishal Nishad
