Green available to bowl in IPL, manager 'stuff-up' registered him as batter

Cameron Green has confirmed that he will be available to bowl in IPL 2026, blaming the fact he is listed as a batter rather than an allrounder in Tuesday's auction on a "stuff-up" by his manager.

Green, 26, has previously played for Mumbai Indians (2023) and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (2024) but was unavailable for the 2025 season as he recovered from back surgery. He initially made his return to international cricket as a specialist batter in June, but has since been cleared to bowl and been used as an allrounder by Australia in the ongoing Ashes series.

Green is widely expected to be the most expensive player at Tuesday's IPL auction in Abu Dhabi, with some suggestions that he could break the INR 27 crore (AUD 4.5 million approx.) benchmark set by Rishabh Pant at last year's auction for the highest-ever bid. Kolkata Knight Riders are the favourites to sign him, with the biggest purse available.

He has entered with a base price of INR 2 crore (AUD 333,000 approx.) and will be one of the first six players up for auction after registering as a batter. Green said that his manager had "accidentally selected the wrong box" when filling out his registration forms.

"I'll be good to bowl," Green said before Australia's training session in Adelaide on Sunday morning. "I don't know if my manager would like to hear this, but there was a stuff-up on his end. He didn't mean to say 'batter'. I think he accidentally selected the wrong box. It was pretty funny how it's all played out, but it was actually a stuff-up on his end."

Green's first IPL season was a success: he hit 452 runs - including an unbeaten, 47-ball 100 - and took six wickets for Mumbai Indians in 2023. He was traded to RCB the following year and was briefly dropped mid-season, finishing with 255 runs and 10 wickets from his 13 appearances.

He confirmed that he will be following the auction - which takes place the night before the third Test - and said that he was interested to see who his new team-mates would be: "I'm sure I will be [watching], with a few other guys. They're always good fun to watch. It's a bit of a lottery where you might go, but also who might be in your team, so it's always been fun to watch."

Green became close friends with Will Jacks - who was recalled by England for the second Ashes Test in Brisbane - during their time together at RCB, and the pair will spend time together with their partners in Melbourne before the fourth Test.

Green's services are in high demand, and he knocked back a question about the prospect of signing a long-term, multi-year central contract with CA following recent changes to the board's memorandum of understanding with the players' union: "We try to stay pretty present, so I'm not trying to look too far ahead... That's nothing I think about too much."

Three other members of Australia's Test squad have registered for the IPL auction in Steven Smith, Josh Inglis (limited availability) and Beau Webster, while Jhye Richardson - who is training with them in Adelaide - is also on the long list. Jake Fraser-McGurk, Matt Short and Riley Meredith are among the other Australians who could find buyers.

Daniel Vettori, Australia's assistant coach, was at training on Sunday but is due to leave for Abu Dhabi on Monday. Vettori is Sunrisers Hyderabad's head coach in the IPL, where his squad includes Pat Cummins and Travis Head.

Five members of England's Ashes squad have registered for the auction, none of whom have previously played in the IPL: Gus Atkinson, Ben Duckett, Jamie Smith, Matthew Potts, Josh Tongue. Other England players who are expected to attract interest include Jonny Bairstow, Jordan Cox and Liam Livingstone.