Australian all-rounder Cameron Green rewrote the IPL auction record books on Tuesday, emerging as the costliest overseas player in the tournament’s history after being snapped up by Kolkata Knight Riders for a staggering Rs 25.20 crore.
The moment Cameron Green was announced, what followed was a full-blown auction-room spectacle, with Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals and later Chennai Super Kings locked in an intense bidding war that refused to cool down.
Paddle after paddle went up, jaws dropped, calculators overheated, and for a brief moment even Rishabh Pant’s Rs 27 crore record appeared under serious threat.
In the end, it was the Shah Rukh Khan-owned KKR that blinked last and sealed the deal, pushing Green past compatriot Mitchell Starc’s previous overseas record of Rs 24.75 crore, also set by KKR in IPL 2024.
“We are very pleased, especially given how unpredictable auctions can be. The player came within the range we had planned for, which made the outcome even more satisfying." KKR CEO Venky Mysore said on Tuesday.
"He adds immense value to the squad, and with Andre Russell coming on board as our new power coach, having a young all-rounder with IPL and international experience is ideal. Given his impact with both bat and ball and the conditions at Eden, we couldn’t be happier with the outcome,” he added.
Before the head-to-head between CSK and KKR, Rajasthan Royals had also thrown their hat into the ring for Green.
With a purse of Rs 16.05 crore, the Royals stayed in the contest up to Rs 13.60 crore before pulling out, leaving the franchises to fight it out without restraint.
Neither CSK nor KKR showed any sign of relenting as the price kept soaring.
Green’s final price tag of Rs 25.20 crore drew loud applause from fans present at the auction venue, but the real celebration erupted online.
The headline number, though, comes with an asterisk. Under the IPL’s recently introduced ‘maximum fee’ rule, Green will not take home the full Rs 25.2 crore he was sold for, with his actual salary capped at Rs 18 crore for the 2026 season.
Any amount beyond that threshold, the highest retention slab ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction, will be deposited with the BCCI and earmarked for player welfare, even as the entire bid amount is deducted from KKR’s auction purse.
The regulation, brought in to discourage overseas players from gaming the mini-auction system, applies only to foreign cricketers, meaning Indian players continue to earn the exact sum they are bid for.
Social media platforms were flooded with memes, jokes and playful trolling, with users having a field day over the sum and the madness of the bidding war. In true IPL fashion, Cameron Green’s purchase turned into not just a regular bid-war but a full-fledged meme festival.
Mumbai Indians, who have the lowest budget (Rs 2.75 crore), started off the bidding at Rs 2 crore.