IPL auction: Cameron Green sets new Australian record with $3.15m windfall after bidding war
It didn’t take long for Cameron Green to cop a gentle ribbing in the Aussie WhatsApp chat after his enormous IPL windfall. But managing him remains a concern.
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Pat Cummins has pithily conceded Australia will have its hands full managing Cameron Green’s workload over a mega year of cricket after the all-rounder’s massive Indian Premier League payday.
Green on Friday night surpassed Australian captain Cummins as the most expensive Australian ever purchased at the IPL auction after fetching 17.5 crore (3.15m AUD) from the Mumbai Indians.
It means the West Australian is bound for the IPL during what shapes as a whopper year for the Australian side, with marquee Test tours to India and England, a one-day World Cup late in the year and a potential World Test Championship final.
Green, as legitimate an all-rounder as Australia has fielded in Test cricket for decades, has an injury history, having overcome the classing fast-bowling stress fracture ailment in recent years.
Cricket Australia has carefully handled Green across his first couple of years of international cricket, and Cummins accepted it would be something of a challenge for Green to balance his myriad commitments in 2023.
“Yeah good luck,” Cummins said about the issue of managing Green.
“I mean first of all we’re all pumped for Greeny, that’s such a wonderful result, couldn’t be happier for Cam.
“Everyone’s got plenty of cricket on, there’s some big tournaments, a World Cup at the end of the year and plenty of Test cricket between that. They’re the big ones and try and get as much out of every player as we can in between.”
Green’s massive cash-in has made him the target of gentle ribbing from his teammates, with Cummins revealing that some of the Australian players have been taking photos of expensive cars outside the hotel and joking that Green had already upgraded his wheels.
“The WhatsApp group started getting pretty busy,” Cummins said.
“To be honest, in some ways you just feel like cattle [being purchased at the IPL auction]. Paddles are going up, numbers are being thrown around. You’re so out of control. It’s on the other side of the world.”
Veteran David Warner had earlier cautioned Green about the pitfalls of IPL riches.
“When you see that kind of money thrown around there’s going to be a lot of pressure on you,” Warner said.
“The most important thing for Cameron, and this is a little bit of advice I can give him, is that we went through a four-Test match series, went on to play an IPL series and didn’t have that Ashes at the back end.
“You’re going to have a long time away from home as a young kid. How he deals with that himself (is the question). He’s got great support I’m sure with his management and his family. That’s going to be his biggest hurdle.
“It’s not about going out there and performing, he’ll do that, that’s inevitable. It’s making sure that he’s in the right frame of mind to go out there and deliver with the Test matches, then going onto the IPL and the Ashes and the World Cup.”
Ironically given concerns about Green doing too much, so far this summer he has largely been surplus to needs, taking just two wickets and making only 32 runs across Australia’s wins so far against the West Indies and South Africa.
But Cummins is not complaining, more than happy for Green to remain fresh.
“Having a fifth bowler, it feels like such a luxury, and so far [this summer] we haven’t really needed to use him,” Cummins said.
“I keep saying every over he saves here it’s another one he can bowl in India for us.”
IPL auction: Green earns record $3.15m windfall
Cameron Green on Friday night became the most expensive Australian ever purchased at an Indian Premier League auction.
The Test all-rounder fetched a whopping 17.5 crore ($3.15m AUD) from the Mumbai Indians, exceeding the previous mark of his national captain Pat Cummins who went for 15.5 crore three years ago.
Australia‘s pre-eminent white-ball spinner Adam Zampa was initially snubbed in the first round of the auction then snapped up by Rajasthan Royals for 1.5 crore ($270,000 AUD), while Jhye Richardson was sold for the same price to Mumbai Indians.
Green’s life-changing contract was a result of a bidding war between the Indians and Ricky Ponting’s Delhi Capitals.
It capped a rapid ascension in the format for Green, who came from the clouds as a Twenty20 player, starring on debut at the top of the order during Australia’s tour of India earlier this year when David Warner was rested.
It led to him being brought into Australia’s T20 World Cup squad. Despite concerns over his workload management the 23-year-old nominated for the IPL auction, a decision which proved very much vindicated, at least from a financial perspective.
“I’m pinching myself that this has all happened,” Green said
“It’s such a weird feeling watching an auction for yourself.
“I can’t believe how nervous I was and I was shaking like anything when the final call was confirmed.
“I’ve always been a huge fan of the IPL and it’s going to be so cool to be a part of it.
“The Mumbai Indians are one of the powerhouses of the competition so I feel very humbled to be joining them.
“I can’t wait to get there next year.”
ð†ð«ðžðžð§ in ð”¹ð•ð•¦ð•– & ð”¾ð• ð•ð•• 💙💫
— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) December 23, 2022
Presenting to you, our newest all-rounder âž¡ï¸ Cameron Green😎
📸: @ompsyram#DilKholKe#MumbaiIndians#TATAIPLAuctionpic.twitter.com/5iW0PmDTer
Green’s payday came only hours after he was one of the last to leave training with the Australian side in the MCG nets ahead of the Boxing Day Test.
But Green, capable of both batting up the order and taking the new ball with pace in excess of 140 km/h, was shaded by England’s Sam Curran, who broke the IPL auction record in being sold for 18.5 crore ($3.33m AUD) to the Punjab Kings.
Curran’s sum surpassed the former top mark of South African all-rounder Chris Morris. Curran was rewarded for an outstanding T20 World Cup at which he was named both player of the tournament and player of the final.
Zampa, the world‘s No. 7 Twenty20 bowler according to the ICC, was initially unsold at his reserve of 1.5 crore ($270,000 AUD).
Richardson took a considerable pay cut, having been bought for 14 crore ($2.48m AUD) by Punjab Kings in 2021.
Travis Head and Lance Morris, the express paceman called into Australia’s Test squad this summer, both went unsold.
The auction event, held in Kochi, was graced by the presence of a host of cricket luminaries. Punjab coach Trevor Bayliss attended in person, leaving his struggling Big Bash League side Sydney Thunder temporarily mid-season to do so.
Originally published as IPL auction: Cameron Green sets new Australian record with $3.15m windfall after bidding war
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