"Ready To Go Up To Rs 35 Crore": This 26-Year-Old Predicted to Fetch World Record Bid At IPL 2026 Auction

Ahead of the IPL 2026 Auction, several former Indian and IPL stars took part in a mock auction. Cameron Green emerged with the highest bid at Rs 30.5 crore, picked by Kolkata Knight Riders, while Chennai Super Kings focused on form, balance, and long-term squad depth. 2007 T20 World Cup star Robin Uthappa made an interesting comment on Kolkata Knight Riders' bidding strategy for Cameron Green and CSK's likely approach.

"I knew CSK would also go after a middle-order all-rounder. I thought they would go somewhere around 25-28 crore. Realistically, I think they would go up to around Rs 20 crore in the actual auction, because they would want to keep space for other Indian and overseas players as well. But in the mock auctions, I was ready to go up to 35 crore for a player like Green. I think Cameron Green should bat at No. 3 in the order," Uthappa said.

Uthappa, who represented KKR, picked Matheesha Pathirana for Rs 13 crore and said the price was paid as the team needed a good death bowler.

"It's all about planning and keeping things simple. We needed a good death bowler. With the kind of coaching staff KKR have, Pathirana can be very effective at the death. He has been a little off-colour recently and has gone back into the auction pool, which I think will make him more motivated to perform. A change of franchise can also help. With Pathirana, Varun Chakravarthy, and Vaibhav Arora, if you're asking who bats in the first XI, it would be Vaibhav Arora. Also, Varun has been working on his batting; he's not too far away from clearing the ropes either," he said.

Catch all the action from the TATA IPL 2026 mini-auction on December 16, 2:30 p.m. onwards, LIVE on JioHotstar and Star Sports Network.

Topics mentioned in this article

Kolkata Knight Riders Cameron Green IPL 2026 Cricket