Australian allrounder Cameron Green has been bought by Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) for INR 25.20 crore ($2.8 million approx.), making him the third-most expensive player sold at an IPL auction, and the most expensive overseas player ever.

KKR also bought the second-most expensive player at the IPL 2026 auction – Sri Lankan fast bowler Matheesha Pathirana for INR 18 crore ($1.97 million approx.).

The record for the most expensive uncapped Indian player was also broken, with 20-year-old left-arm spin allrounder Prashant Neer and 19-year-old wicketkeeper Kartik Sharma going to Chennai Super Kings (CSK) for a staggering INR 14.2 crore each, breaking Avesh Khan’s INR 10 crore mark in the 2022 auction. Jammu and Kashmir fast bowler Auqib Nabi also had a big payday, with Delhi Capitals buying him for INR 8.4 crore.

KKR, who began the auction with the largest purse of INR 64.3 crore, had to stave off competition for Green from CSK, who had the second-highest purse of INR 43.4 crore. The bidding, though, began with Mumbai Indians (MI), who had to drop out of the race quickly because they had a purse of only INR 2.75 crore. Rajasthan Royals (RR), who had a purse of INR 16.05 crore, took the bid as far as INR 13.40 crore before exiting, at which point CSK joined the bidding against KKR.

Green’s bid took more than ten minutes to complete, and he ranks behind Rishabh Pant (INR 27 crore) and Shreyas Iyer (INR 26.75 crore) on the list of most expensive IPL players. The most expensive overseas players before Green were Mitchell Starc (INR 24.75 crore) and Pat Cummins (INR 20.50 crore). Green, however, will get only INR 18 crore due to a maximum salary cap imposed by the IPL on overseas players at mini-auctions. The bid amount in excess of INR 18 crore (INR 7.2 crore) will go to the BCCI for player welfare.

Green first played the IPL in 2023, when MI bought him for INR 17.5 crore. He scored 452 runs at a strike rate of 160.28, and picked up six wickets. MI then traded Green to RCB a year later for the same price. He scored 255 runs for RCB at a strike rate of 143.25, and took ten wickets. Green did not register for the mega auction ahead of IPL 2025 because he was returning from a back injury.

Green was one of only two players sold from the first set of batters on Tuesday, along with South Africa batter David Miller, who went to Delhi Capitals (DC) at his base price of INR 2 crore. Jake-Fraser McGurk, Prithvi Shaw, Devon Conway and Sarfaraz Khan were unsold.

The lukewarm bidding continued into the second set of allrounders, with only two of seven players sold. Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) bought Sri Lanka’s Wanidu Hasaranga at his base price of INR 2 crore. Venkat Iyer, who had been bought by KKR for INR 23.75 crore in the IPL 2025 auction, was sold to Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) for INR 7 crore. Liam Livingstone, Rachin Ravindra, Gus Atkinson, Wiaan Mulder and Deepak Hooda were unsold in the first set of allrounders.

There was more action in the first set of wicketkeepers, with MI buying South Africa’s Quinton de Kock, DC buying England’s Ben Duckett, and KKR buying New Zealand’s Finn Allen – all at their base prices. CSK, who began the auction with the second-largest purse, did not buy a player from the first three sets.

CSK did not bid for Pathirana, who they had released at a price of INR 13 crore after IPL 2025. The demand for Pathirana began with DC and LSG, and once the bid reached INR 15.6 crore, DC dropped out considering they had a purse of INR 17.8 crore. KKR entered the bidding and priced out LSG, who had a purse of INR 20.95 crore, at INR 18 crore. Having missed out on Pathirana, LSG immediately bought South African quick Anrich Nortje at his base price of INR 2 crore.

RCB’s second buy at the auction was New Zealand fast bowler Jacob Duffy (INR 2 crore), who could slot in as back-up for Josh Hazlewood.

CSK did bid for legspinner Ravi Bishnoi, but stopped once the price reached INR 6 crore. RR and SRH then bid for Bishnoi, and he was eventually bought by RR for INR 7.2 crore. Akeal Hosein, the West Indies left-arm spinner, was eventually CSK’s first buy at the auction, at his base price of INR 2 crore.

Only 12 out of 40 players in the first six sets were sold.

Players bought at auction

KKR : Cameron Green, Finn Allen, Matheesha Pathirana, Tejasvi Dahiya, Kartik Tyagi

LSG: Wanindu Hasaranga, Anrich Nortje, Mukul Choudhary, Naman Tiwari

DC: David Miller, Ben Duckett, Auqib Nabi

RCB:Venkatesh Iyer, Jacob Duffy

MI:Quinton de Kock

RR:Ravi Bishnoi, Sushant Mishra, Yash Raj Punja, Vignesh Puthur

CSK:Akeal Hosein, Kartik Sharma, Prashant Veer

GT:Ashok Sharma

PBKS:

SRH: Shivang Kumar

(Cricinfo)

A day ahead of the IPL auction, Matheesha Pathirana bagged a three-fer as Sharjah Warriorz scripted their second win of the season. The Sri Lankan ended with figures of 4-1-19-3 as the Warriorz restricted the Gulf Giants to 163 for 9, who were in pursuit of the target of 175. Wasim Akram too picked up a three-wicket haul (3-34) while Tom Abell did the bulk of the scoring for the Warriorz with 68 off 41 in the first innings to bring up a competitive score on the board.

With the Warriorz being put in to bat, Tom Kohler-Cadmore’s struggles in the ILT20 continued, dismissed cheaply for six by Fred Klaasen, with his first ball in the ILT20. Johnson Charles hit two boundaries off Matthew Forde but holed out to long-on in the last over of the PowerPlay. This was sandwiched by Abell smashing back-to-back sixes and a four off Klaasen for 19 runs in the fifth over.

Abell and James Rew then put on 71 runs together. They targeted the spin of Liam Dawson and Moeen Ali, finding regular boundaries, before Abell brought up his 50 off 32 balls. He also played a beautiful stroke inside-out over extra-cover for a maximum. He then fell to Aayan Khan holing out to deep mid-wicket. Couple of overs later,`Rew was bowled by Chris Wood as Dwaine Pretorius joined Sikandar Raza each other at the crease. The South African took 16 runs off Forde in the 18th over before hitting two boundaries off Wood. Pretorius’ cameo of 28 off 13 came to an end off the last ball when he was run-out.

In reply, Rahmanullah Gurbaz got a reprieve in the first over when Ethan D’Souza dropped him off Taskin Ahmed. Wasim Akram got the in-form Pathum Nissanka for a low score of three. Gurbaz got hold off Taskin for a four and a six in his following over but got the key wicket of James Vince for a duck. Gurbaz continued to find the boundaries but the Giants continued to lose wickets with Mayers falling to Akram. It got worse for the Giants as three balls later, Pathirana castled the dangerous Gurbaz with an off-cutter to leave the Giants 38 for 4 in 4.3 overs.

Moeen (45) and Azmatullah Omarzai (41) then put on 79 runs together across the next 10 overs to bring the Giants back into the contest. Just when the partnership began to look threatening, Akram picked up his third with that of Omarzai. One brought two, as Pathirana got Forde to miscue a pull which was pocketed by Rew. Pretorius picked up Asif Khan as the Giants continued to tumble. Pathirana sealed the final nail in the coffin with the wicket of Moeen before the Giants finished on 163 for 9 in their allotted overs.

Brief Scores:

Sharjah Warriorz

174 for 6 in 20 overs (Tom Abell 68, James Rew 33; Chris Wood 2-26, Aayan Khan 1-22) beat Gulf Giants 163 for 9 in 20 overs (Moeen Ali 45, Azmatullah Omarzai 41; Matheesha Pathirana 3-19, Wasim Akram 3-34) by 11 runs

(Cricbuzz)

Sri Lanka Under 19s scored back to back victories as Mahanama College batsman Chamika Heenatigala anchored the tail with an unbeaten half century to seal two wickets victory over Afghanistan U19s in their second group match of the Under 19 Asia Cup in Dubai on Monday.

‎Chasing 236 runs to win Sri Lanka U19s were eight wickets down for 217 runs in the 48th over but Heenatigala with Rasith Nimsara kept their cool to seal the victory with four balls to spare.

‎In their chase, Viran Chamuditha top scored with 62 runs and put on a first wicket stand of 55 runs with Dimantha Mahavithana (27).

‎While Kavija Gamage (34) and Dulnith Sigera (22) made vital contributions with the bat, Sethmika Senevirathne and Sigera took three wickets each.

‎It was Sri Lanka Youth team’s second consecutive win in the tournament after registering their first win against Nepal.