IPL 2026 Auction: Why Cameron Green Will Get Only Rs 18 Crore Despite Record Rs 25.20 Crore Bid From KKR
Australian cricket team all-rounder Cameron Green scripted history by becoming the costliest overseas player in the history of the IPL auction.
Australian cricket team all-rounder Cameron Green scripted history by becoming the costliest overseas player in the history of the IPL auction. Green was bought by the Kolkata Knight Riders for a massive Rs 25.20 crore after an intense bidding war with the Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings. The previous record belonged to Australian pace bowler Mitchell Starc, who was bought by KKR for Rs 24.75 crore in the IPL 2024 auction. Overall, Rishabh Pant was the costliest pick ever, as he was acquired by the Lucknow Super Giants for Rs 27 crore in the IPL 2025 auction, while the Punjab Kings paid a stunning Rs 26.75 crore for Shreyas Iyer in the same auction.
Why Green will earn just Rs 18 crore
Although Green's bid broke the Rs 25 crore mark, his salary for IPL 2026 will still be Rs 18 crore (USD 1.9 million). According to IPL rules, the bid amount and player salaries are mutually exclusive, with the excess amount deducted under the "maximum-fee" rule.
According to the rule, an overseas cricketer's maximum fee at a mini auction will be the lower value between the highest retention slab (Rs 18 crore) and the highest price fetched at the previous mega auction (Rs 27 crore earned by Rishabh Pant).
Venkatesh Iyer goes to RCB
KKR also went after Venkatesh Iyer before pulling out of the race against Royal Challengers Bengaluru, who fetched the services of the spin-bowling India all-rounder for Rs 7 crore.
Prithvi Shaw, however, went unsold despite his fine run of form in the domestic circuit lately, and so was the case with Sarfaraz, who smashed a 22-ball 73 in a Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy match for Mumbai on Tuesday.
Big-hitting South African batter David Miller was bought by Delhi Capitals for his base price of Rs 2 crore, but New Zealand swashbuckler Devon Conway, whose base price was also Rs 2 crore, went unsold in the auction.
Seasoned South African opener Quinton de Kock returned to his old base Mumbai Indians for a base price of Rs 1 crore.
A total of 359 players -- 246 Indians and 113 overseas players -- are part of the mini auction pool with the 10 franchises bidding to fill up a maximum of 77 slots, including 31 reserved for foreign players.
Kolkata Knight Riders