Kolkata Knight Riders and Cameron Green faced plenty of flak after the latter didnโt bowl in the teamโs opening game of the season against Mumbai Indians. After the defeat, captain Ajinkya Rahane shared that Cricket Australia is yet to send their green signal on Greenโs availability as a bowler and that puts KKR in a difficult spot.ย
However, ahead of the match against Sunrisers Hyderabad, head coach Abhishek Nayar defended the move, stating that Green is a part of a long-term project as the franchise sees him as someone who can be an ideal replacement for Andre Russell. Hence, for the time being, they are managing Greenโs workload as they expect him to play a major role in the coming time.ย
โWell, I think, see, the idea of picking a player in an auction is not always very short-sighted. There is obviously a horizon. You look at what a player has done over a number of years and the skill set he possesses. Whatever decision you make, you donโt know what the future lies and what the future will hold. 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 Cam Green can do,โ Nayar said in the press conference.ย
โThere are things that sometimes are very unfortunate, itโs not in your control, but thatโs the sport and thatโs the beauty of the sport. So we always consider best-case scenarios. Yes, you want back-ups, you pick players who do certain things, but when we went into the auction, very simple: if Russ wasnโt 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 Cam Green could do that for us. Itโs just unfortunate that heโs not been able to bowl so far,โ he added.
KKR play SRH next
Kolkata will host Sunrisers Hyderabad in their upcoming IPL 2026 game on April 2 at the Eden Gardens. The three-time champions will be eager to bounce back after the defeat, but so will be Hyderabad, who were battered by Royal Challengers Bengaluru in their opening game.ย
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