Cameron Green’s name is again doing the rounds ahead of the 16 December mini-auction, and this time both Kolkata Knight Riders and Chennai Super Kings appear ready to spend whatever it takes. Well, almost whatever. A rule brought in last year means any overseas player – Green included – cannot pocket more than INR 18 crore, no matter how high the paddle is raised.
To put that in context, Knight Riders walk in with the biggest purse, INR 64.3 crore, while Super Kings have INR 43.4 crore. Both sides released a clutch of senior pros last month and have an obvious gap for a pace-bowling all-rounder who bats in the top order. “He fits nicely into what we’re after,” one senior KKR analyst said on condition of anonymity. “Runs up front, overs in the powerplay – that’s a rare package.” CSK officials have been just as plain in private, though none has gone on the record.
Green, now 26, was bought by Mumbai Indians for INR 17.5 crore in 2023, traded to Royal Challengers Bengaluru for the same sum the following winter, and has since produced 707 runs at a strike-rate a shade over 153 in two seasons. The Australian has listed himself at the maximum base price of INR 2 crore again and, if the old pattern holds, bidding should rattle through that figure in seconds.
Record sums are nothing new at the mini-auction. Last December KKR paid INR 24.75 crore for Mitchell Starc moments after Sunrisers Hyderabad splashed INR 20.5 crore on Pat Cummins. The year before, Punjab Kings had gone to 18.5 crore for Sam Curran. Those deals nudged the league to act. “Any overseas player’s auction fee at small auction will be lower than the highest retention price [of INR 18 crore] and the highest auction price at the big auction. In case the highest auction price at the big auction is INR 20 crore, then INR 18 crore will be the cap. If the highest auction price at big auction is INR 16 crore, then the cap will be INR 16 crore,” the league wrote to franchises last year.
The process will look the same on the auction floor. Bidding carries on until the last hand drops, the full figure dents the buyer’s purse, and anything above the cap heads elsewhere. “The incremental amount over INR 16 or 18 crore, as the case may be, will be deposited with BCCI. The incremental amount deposited with BCCI will be utilised towards players’ welfare,” the same note explained.
Indian players are exempt; if, say, Harshal Patel or Shardul Thakur sparks a bidding war, they receive every rupee. Several team officials reckon that caveat could make the home talent pool even pricier. “There’s no ceiling on the local boys, so don’t be shocked if a domestic quick clears 12 or 13 crore,” a veteran auction consultant said.
In total 77 slots are available, 31 for overseas cricketers. Sixteen capped Indians sit in the long-list that franchises are busy trimming. A handful of them – left-armers, as ever – are expected to fetch seven-figure sums.
Green remains the headline act, though. He offers pace, bounce and clean hitting, is 26, and has a body that, so far, stands up to short-format workloads. The one thing he cannot do is break the INR 20-crore barrier Starc smashed last year. Rules are rules, even in the IPL.
