One of the mysteries of the match between MI and KKR on Sunday, March 28, during the IPL 2026 contest was Cameron Green not bowling. Green was bought by KKR for Rs. 25.2 crore and was expected to be the Andre Russell replacement for the franchise.
Russell is the second-highest wicket-taker for KKR with 122 wickets to his name, and Green has done well with the ball, picking 16 wickets in the 30 matches he has played. Yet it seemed bizarre to see the Aussie all-rounder not given the ball. Infact, this year, Green has bowled just 7.1 overs in 7 matches this year.
Ajinkya Rahane has now spilled the beans on why Green is still not an option. The KKR captain, after the loss to MI, revealed that they’re yet to get clearance from Cricket Australia to unleash Green as a bowling option.
“That’s the question you need to ask to Cricket Australia (On why Green cannot bowl yet),” said Rahane.
‘ONCE GREEN BOWLS, COMBINATION WILL BE DIFFERENT’
KKR bowlers were put to the sword by MI batters, especially by Ryan Rickleton and Rohit Sharma during the contest. Varun Chakravarthy went wicketless and conceded 48 in his four overs. Vaibhav Arora ended up conceding 52 runs in four overs and Blessing Muzarabani went for 34 in his three overs. The void of an extra option like Green was felt on the day and Rahane said that once the all-rounder starts bowling the combination will get better for Kolkata.
“I think when, hopefully, Green starts to bowl, the combination will slightly be different. At the moment, we have to see the balance, guys who can bowl well for us, batting-wise, as I said, we batted really well, but finding that balance with the ball is really important. So hopefully, Green starts to bowl soon,” said Rahane.
KKR are without the services of Harshit Rana and Akash Deep for the season and Matheesha Pathirana is still not ready to play. Rahane backed the inexperienced bowling attack despite their chastening experience to come good as the season rolls on.
“We batted really well but then it was a really inexperienced bowling attack, these boys will learn. I mean playing against MI, strong batting line-up. Apart from Vaibhav, Kartik, and Muzarabani again new to IPL. Two experienced spinners but I thought Mumbai Indians batted really well. So, out bowlers will definitely learn,” said Rahane.
KKR will need to quickly regroup and head back home where they will face SRH in their next match on April 2.
