The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have lost their way. Yet to win a match, no one’s criticising the tactics, selection, or auction strategy. Asking why KKR captain Ajinkya Rahane opted to bat first in a game that was certain to be rain-affected. Instead, everyone’s piling on Cameron Green.
The invalid Cameron Green criticism
The Australian all-rounder didn’t urge franchises to pay millions of dollars to him. All he did was register himself at the base price of INR 2 crore. It was no different from what several domestic and foreign players did. Yet, he’s the one getting criticised the most. The INR 25.20 crore price tag attached to him has resulted in severe backlash, most of which is unwarranted.
Even a blind man would see that Green wasn’t in great form coming into the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026. His position in Australia’s team, across formats, is under scrutiny. He underperformed in the Ashes and the T20 World Cup. Labelled as an all-rounder, neither his batting nor his bowling is where it was expected to be 4-5 years ago.
Why all the fuss over his bowling?
However, all of KKR’s issues are somehow pinned upon his bowling. Granted, his batting hasn’t been good: two early dismissals and one run out. But his bowling was never going to be a game-changer. KKR head coach Abhishek Nayar suggested that Green was going to be Andre Russell’s replacement, albeit in a different role.
But one can’t understand how that’ll happen. Green has bowled 113.4 overs in his T20 career, 73 matches. That’s basically 1.5 overs per game. Meanwhile, Russell delivered nearly 1,500 overs in 590 matches. For KKR, it was 292 overs in 139 games. Green just isn’t a proper all-rounder like Russell was. At least, not yet.
BCCI asked to set precedent
One can still understand unwarranted criticism. But former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar has suggested that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) set a precedent by banning Green and other players like him, who can’t deliver what they were picked for.
Players like Punjab Kings’ Cooper Connolly and Lucknow Super Giants’ Mitchell Marsh haven’t been permitted to bowl by Cricket Australia, like Green. Gavaskar finds this egregious.
A few days ago, he’d suggested increasing the ban on players who pull out of the IPL for invalid reasons, citing Ben Duckett. Now, Gavaskar wants the BCCI to consider banning players like Green, who turn to the IPL, undercooked. He doesn’t care if Cricket Australia says they informed the franchises about Green, Connolly, or Marsh. The IPL gives a 10% revenue share from the auction of the Australian players sold to the board, and Gavaskar believes that is enough for them to step back and let franchises take over.
“A bowler can bowl only four overs in a match… what is stopping them from doing so in the game? It is only fair that a player not fit from day one should withdraw and give the franchise the chance to pick someone else. To suggest that the franchise was ‘informed before’ is not a great excuse. Maybe the BCCI needs to step in and… introduce something similar for players who are not available from the first game. Don’t the franchises… deserve full commitment?” Gavaskar wrote in his column for Sportstar.
