Chris Green backs IPL stint to help push T20 World Cup case

No bowler has been more miserly on the T20 circuit than Chris Green in the past 12 months, and after being handed a maiden IPL deal in this week's auction, the offspinner hopes that he can use the tournament to pitch his case for selection in next year's World Cup.

While Green's INR 20 lakh (US$28,000) contract is hardly a life-changing sum - his new Kolkata Knight Riders team-mate Pat Cummins will earn over 75 times more than him - being part of what he labels the "pinnacle" of short-form cricket presents him with the opportunity to learn from and train with the best.

"I went in really low to give myself the best possible chance to go over there, learn, and grow my game," Green tells ESPNcricinfo, having entered the auction with the minimum base price. "I'm yet to hear a bad thing about the IPL from any of the guys that have been there - they've all said it's the pinnacle of T20 cricket."

After Sydney Thunder's win against Melbourne Renegades in Geelong on Thursday night, Green was "talking rubbish" with his team-mates in a hotel room into the small hours, with Twitter notifications turned on to keep track of who had been picked up.

"I was just following it out of interest really," he says. "I didn't have big expectations - I thought I was a very big outside chance, a long shot, and then all of a sudden at about twenty past one in the morning I saw my name come up and that KKR had picked me up.

"I just went silent, and didn't really know what to say or do - I was in shock, and I still sort of am really."

While he is unlikely to be the first name on a teamsheet that will boast an impressive array of talent - Cummins, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine and Eoin Morgan look set to be the first-choice overseas quartet - Green knows from his time as a back-up member of Pakistan Super League squads as a young player that an IPL stint should be beneficial to his game.

"I was with Narine at Lahore Qalandars in my first-ever PSL, and just shadowed him really. We were bowling together in the nets, and that's when I first started developing my carrom ball and basically picking his brains - observing what he does well and seeing what I can take from his game and implement it in mine.

"That's the biggest part of it, that amazing set-up… where I can work on my game with some of the best coaches. Sunil's bowling coach Carl Crowe is there [at KKR] so I'm looking forward to working with him, and obviously doing some batting stuff too."

As the only Australian spinner in the tournament - he was only of only two overseas spinners picked in the auction, alongside Fabian Allen - Green has an ideal platform to send a message to national team selectors, and admits that his "radar is set on that [T20] World Cup". Selection for the Prime Minister's XI against Sri Lanka early in the summer provided evidence that his feats worldwide have not gone unnoticed.

"[The selectors] gave me an update on where I was at the start of the summer. They said they liked the experience and the performances that I've been putting in overseas in a lot of these tournaments, and basically said keep doing what you're doing and the opportunities may not be too far away.

"Ashton Agar and Adam Zampa [the incumbent T20 spinners] are doing really well and did well at the start of the summer here against Sri Lanka and Pakistan so it's going to be a tough egg to crack. But I'll keep doing my best to put those guys under pressure: if it happens, it would be an absolute dream come true."

There is little flashy about being an offspinner, and Green's relatively unremarkable wicket-taking record means he often slips under the radar, but his economy with the ball makes him something of a gem, hidden in plain sight.

Since the start of last year's Big Bash, no one who has played as many games worldwide has a better T20 economy rate than his 6.57, while he has conceded a mere 5.80 runs per over in the Powerplay, the phase in which he has become a specialist.

After the IPL there will be further opportunities to impress the selectors, with a stint as Birmingham Bears' captain in the Vitality Blast, and the hope of being signed as a replacement player in the Hundred if things go well.

For the time being, though, Green's focus is on keeping Thunder's winning start to their Big Bash campaign going: after two wins in their first two games, they sit top of the ladder going into Saturday night's game against the Strikers.

"I've really enjoyed being back. I love playing for this club: it's the first one that gave me an opportunity when I was playing club cricket, to play on the big stage and begin to showcase my skills. It's nice to lock away a future with them, and to be playing in front of good mates with my friends and family."