The Australian all-rounder was sold to the Kolkata Knight Riders.
With INR 2.75 Crore in the purse at the start of the IPL 2026 auction, raising the paddle for Australia all-rounder Cameron Green would be one of the last things on the minds of a franchise like the Mumbai Indians. But Akash Ambani had other plans. The five-time IPL champions were the first ones to raise the paddle for Cameron Green once his name was announced in the auction.
Obviously, the Mumbai Indians knew that Green was way out of their reach. Teams like Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) had purses of more than INR 40 Crore, and acquiring the Aussie all-rounder was going to be a war between those two franchises, which the three-time IPL champions won.
That being said, in an interview in the middle of the auction, Mumbai Indians owner Akash Ambani revealed the thought process behind raising the paddle first for Cameron Green. He mentioned that the player played his first IPL campaign with the Mumbai Indians, and that raising the paddle for him was a mark of respect and homage to Cameron Green.
On being asked whether they were serious about the raise of the paddle or just wanted to rattle a few teams out there, Ambani mentioned that the five-time IPL champs have always been serious about their bids, but this instance was more of a mark of homage to Green.
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It is no secret that most of the work for the Mumbai Indians was done in the lead-up to the IPL 2026 auction. The franchise acquired the services of Sherfane Rutherford and Mayank Markande in the trade window itself, which made their life easier.
To add to that, the five-time champions bought Quinton de Kock at his base price of INR 1 Crore, which was a steal – considering the kind of form that the South African wicketkeeper-batter is in. After announcing a comeback from his retirement, de Kock has been scoring runs at a brisk rate and has looked in fine touch.
The major hurdle for the Mumbai Indians was the decision to retain all of their core players in Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, Tilak Varma and Suryakumar Yadav – which they executed to perfection. The Men in Blue & Gold have always believed in retaining their core players, which has left them with the minimal purse amongst all the other sides.
The franchise would be very happy after the IPL 2026 auction with the squad that they have shaped up for the 19th IPL edition. Despite not getting their hands on Cameron Green, acquiring Quinton de Kock has given them an option against Ryan Rickelton. However, the five-time IPL champs have their line-up sorted, and will be raring to go into the tournament.
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