Ahead of the IPL 2026 mini auction, former India cricketer Robin Uthappa had some suggestions for his former team Kolkata Knight Riders. A KKR legend, Uthappa, urged the franchise to acquire Cameron Green, even if it required them to break the bank on the all-rounder.
The Aussie has spent two seasons in the IPL before, representing Mumbai Indians in 2023 and Royal Challengers Bengaluru in 2024. MI, in particular, broke the bank for Green, acquiring him for ₹17.5 crore.
Speaking on JioHotstar, Uthappa participated in a mock IPL 2026 mini auction and revealed that he was ‘ready to go up to ₹35 crore for a player like Green.’
“I knew CSK would also go after a middle-order all-rounder. I thought they would go somewhere around 25–28 crore. Realistically, I think they would go up to around ₹20 crore in the actual auction, because they would want to keep space for other Indian and overseas players as well. But in the mock auctions, I was ready to go up to 35 crore for a player like Green. I think Cameron Green should bat at No. 3 in the order,” he said.
When MI splurged on Green, Akash Ambani claimed that he would be with the franchise for a long time. However, they quickly traded him to RCB just a year later and also acquired Hardik Pandya from Gujarat Titans. Green didn’t feature in the 2025 mega auction due to injury, but is expected to be one of the prime attractions in the mini auction. He will be of huge interest to KKR, especially after the IPL retirement of all-rounder Andre Russell. Meanwhile, even CSK need an all-rounder for their middle order.
Meanwhile, Uthappa, who was representing KKR in the mock mini auction, also purchased Matheesha Pathirana for ₹13 crore. He also stated that KKR’s coaching staff and the Sri Lankan would be a nice combination, and he could ‘very effective at the death.’
“It’s all about planning and keeping things simple. We needed a good death bowler. With the kind of coaching staff KKR have, Pathirana can be very effective at the death. He has been a little off colour recently and has gone back into the auction pool, which I think will make him more motivated to perform. A change of franchise can also help. With Pathirana, Varun Chakravarthy and Vaibhav Arora, if you’re asking who bats in the first XI, it would be Vaibhav Arora. Also, Varun has been working on his batting, he’s not too far away from clearing the ropes either,” he said.
Pathirana dealt with injury issues last year, which affected his output on the field. Meanwhile, CSK released him. But the Sri Lankan is a special bowler. He has the fifth-best strike rate in the IPL for any pacer with more than 20 wickets.
