Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) skipper Ajinkya Rahane opened up on why star Australian all-rounder Cameron Green did not bowl during their opening Indian Premier League (IPL 2026) match against the Mumbai Indians (MI) tonight (March 29). After being put to bat first, KKR posted a massive 220/4 in 20 overs but their bowlers failed to defend it as MI recorded their highest-ever successful chase.
Interestingly, KKR did not use Cameron Green for his bowling despite their pacers Vaibhav Arora, Kartik Tyagi and Blessing Muzarabani going for a beating. Following the loss, Ajinkya Rahane was quizzed on similar lines and his response raised eyebrows.
Rahane said at the post-match presentation ceremony, “That’s the question you need to ask Cricket Australia (CA).”
While Cameron Green doesn’t have any current injury issues, Rahane’s reply hints that the Australian board wants to manage the workload of one of their key players, especially with a packed international calendar lined up next. He has most recently bowled during Australia’s T20 World Cup 2026 campaign last month, where they faced elimination in the group stages of the ICC event.
Roped in by KKR for a whopping INR 25.2 crores at the IPL 2026 auction, Cameron Green is touted to fill the void left by Andre Russell. Thus, he will need to deliver across departments and will play a pivotal role if KKR have to lift their fourth title.
With the bat, Cameron Green started well against MI but could not convert his innings into a big knock, departing for 18(10). Speaking about the rest of MI vs KKR game, it was a high-scoring affair.
After KKR’s explosive batting, courtesy of Ajinkya Rahane (67 off 40 balls) and Angkrish Raghuvanshi (51 off 29 balls) that propelled their scoreboard to a 200-plus total, it was the opening MI duo of Rohit Sharma (78 off 38 balls) and Ryan Rickelton (81 off 43 balls), who registered a record 148-run opening stand and took the game away from KKR as MI secured a six wicket win.
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The Aussie is tall with a high release point, which allows him to hit the deck hard and generate extra bounce to trouble batters. He can be used as an enforcer to get breakthroughs or restrict run flow in the middle overs.
Furthermore, Green not bowling is also affecting the KKR combinations with the management having to play an extra bowler/all-rounder like Anukul Roy instead of an extra batter.
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