Cameron Green picked with long-term objective, clarifies Abhishek Nayar

Cameron Green’s absence as a bowling option has compounded Kolkata Knight Riders’ fast-bowling concerns. Akash Deep and Harshit Rana have been ruled out, Mustafizur Rahman had to be released, and Matheesha Pathirana is yet to receive fitness clearance from Sri Lanka Cricket.

Green, an INR 25.20 crore signing at the auction, is viewed as a long-term successor to retired franchise legend Andre Russell. However, the all-rounder featured purely as a specialist batter in the season opener against Mumbai Indians, a game Kolkata Knight Riders lost.

That false start to their campaign raised questions about team balance, with fans speculating an episode of miscommunication between Cricket Australia and Kolkata Knight Riders. The Australian board had recently clarified that Green is managing a lower-back issue and gradually rebuilding his bowling workload.

“I think, see, the idea of picking a player in an auction is not always very short sighted. There is always a horizon,” head coach Abhishek Nayar said on Wednesday. “You look at what a player has done over a number of years and the skill set he possesses. This sport is interesting in that way that a lot of times you pick a player with certain prowess and sometimes they may even perform the skill you are talking about and not perform.”

Kolkata Knight Riders are the third most successful IPL franchise but their 2025 season was a bit of a disaster. They finished eighth on the points table, losing 7 of 12 completed fixtures. On paper, their bowling lacks the heft that their batting carries.https://t.co/vQKB6fMmI8

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“But for us, Cameron Green, the cricketer and the all-rounder was really important. You take a lot of things into consideration at times, whether there is an injury, fitness updates. But eventually, I think, when the auction happens and the tournament happens, it’s not immediate. So whatever decision you make, you don’t know what the future lies and what the future holds. So in that aspect, we as a franchise always invest in the player and what the player at his best can bring to our table and we know what Cameron can do. There are things that sometimes are very unfortunate.

“Yes, you want backups, you pick players who do certain things. But when you went into the auction, very simple. If Russell wasn’t there, who is the next best all-rounder that we felt in the world and could add a lot of value and could take that Russell legacy forward in a different role, we felt Cameron Green can do that for us. It’s just unfortunate that he has not been able to bowl so far.”