Cricket Australia, KKR trade barbs on Cameron Green's fitness

Cricket Australia, KKR trade barbs on Cameron Green's fitness - All you need to know

Green is the IPL's most expensive player ever at ₹25.20 crore.

By CNBCTV18.com

Cricket Australia (CA) have claimed that Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) are fully aware of Cameron Green's injury status after he did not bowl during their IPL 2026 fixture against Mumbai Indians (MI) at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday.

Rahane replied, "Ask Cricket Australia", when he was probed about Green playing as only a batter in their opening game of the campaign.

"Cameron has a lower back injury which is being managed but requires him to abstain from bowling for a short period," a CA spokesperson told PTI.

"Cameron is currently rebuilding his bowling loads in India with a view to return in around 10-12 days' time. KKR has been communicated with and is fully aware of this information." Green did not bowl competitively for nearly 12 months -- from September 2024 to October 2025 -- after undergoing surgery for a stress fracture in his back and even after that period, his contributions with the ball have been minimal Green's last competitive outing with the ball came in the T20 World Cup against Oman on February 20 earlier this year at Pallekele, where he bowled just two overs.

Overall, Green just bowled 19 deliveries during the showpiece and took one wicket (against Zimbabwe).

KKR had gone all out at the IPL mini auction to secure the Australian for a whopping Rs 25.20 crore, making him the costliest overseas buy.

The franchise is already without key pacers -- Matheesha Pathirana, Harshit Rana, Akash Deep and Mustafizur Rahman.

While Mustafizur was removed from the KKR roster on BCCI's directive amid political tensions with Bangladesh, Harshit and Akash Deep were ruled out due to injuries.

'Slinger' Pathirana, another high-profile acquisition, is also recovering from a niggle and yet to join the squad.

With Green also not being utilised with the bowl in their IPL opener against Mumbai Indians, KKR faced a severe pace-bowling crisis in their lung-opener despite defending a tall 220.

They were forced to rely on Vaibhav Arora and debutant Blessing Muzarabani, who replaced Mustafizur, to share new-ball duties while an uncapped Kartik Tyagi was used as an Impact Sub.

Mumbai Indians exposed KKR's thin bowling resources completely as Arora conceded runs at 13 per over, Muzarabani leaked over 11 per over on debut, while Tyagi too went for more than 10 per over.

Mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy also continued to struggle and leaked at 12 an over, adding to their woes.

MI cantered home by six wickets with five balls to spare.

Rahane admitted that his side was struggling to find the right balance.

"Hopefully Green starts to bowl soon and the combination will be slightly different. It was really tough for the bowlers. Inexperienced attack, but these boys will learn.

"Strong batting lineup. So it's a learning curve. I thought MI batted well. Our bowlers will definitely learn," Rahane added.

(With PTI inputs)

Click here to read article