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Cameron Green became the highest priced overseas player in IPL history, bought by Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) for INR 25.20 crore (AU$4.2 million approx).At Tuesday’s player auction for the 2026 season the Australia all-rounder was the subject of intense bidding between KKR and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) before being purchased by the three-time champions.Related

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Green became the ​third most expensive ‌IPL player overall, after India internationals Rishabh Pant (AU$4.46m) and Shreyas Iyer (AU$4.42m).His earnings are capped at just under AU$3 million under a new IPL regulation with the rest of the money paid by KKR going to the BCCI to support player welfare.Green received the news of his lucrative signing while preparing for the third Test against England starting on Wednesday.But Steven Smith headed a list of Australians who went unsold, in his case he did not even come up for offer with none of the teams requesting to bid on him.Unlike Green, whose deal was one of the first completed, Josh Inglis had to wait until approaching 2am Adelaide time to discover his fate. Smith’s fruitless wait was even longer.Cameron Green has earned a bumper deal•Randy Brooks/AFP via Getty Images

“He adds lot to our team, especially with our new power coach Andre Russell, very nice to have a young allrounder,” said KKR’s CEO Venky Mysore of Green. “Him having had IPL experience, we know what he does with bat and ball. Couldn’t be happier.”Green previously played for Mumbai Indians (MI) and ​Royal ​Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) but ​missed the 2025 season ​after back surgery,In 29 IPL matches he has averaged 41.58 with the bat at a strike rate of 153.69, with a top score of 100 not out, while he’s taken 16 wickets at 41.50 and an economy rate of 9.07.Green’s price eclipsed Australia team-mate Mitchell Starc’s AU$4m figure for 2024, when also bought by KKR.Starc, now with Delhi Capitals (DC), was not in this year’s auction. He was one of 10 Australians already retained, along with Test team-mates Pat Cummins and Travis Head, both at Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH).Josh Hazlewood, currently injured, has unsurprisingly been kept on by defending champions RCB.Four other Australians were also recruited. Ricky Ponting’s Punjab Kings added Ben Dwarshuis (AU$725,000) and Cooper Connolly (AU$500,000) to their coterie of Australians. Matthew Short (AU$250,000) joined CSK and SRH made New South Wales allrounder Jack Edwards (AU$500,000) the only uncapped overseas hire.That brought to 16 the number of Australian players involved in the 19th edition of the IPL, which begins on March 26, with several others among coaching staff, notably Ponting and Justin Langer.

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Central Zone, riding on Faiz Fazal’s 95-ball 58, and a fine all-round display from Piyush Chawla, who took 3 for 47 before scoring an unbeaten 33, defeated South Zone by five wickets to clinch the 2007-08 Deodhar Trophy. Central lead the standings with 15 points after three consecutive wins, and though there’s a chance of West finishing on equal points, Central will keep the title by virtue of having defeated West.Chasing 164 for victory, Central began aggressively, with Naman Ojha leading the way with a 30-ball 29. Central lost Naman and Suresh Raina within the space of three overs, but Fazal did not let that affect his concentration, picking up runs without taking any risks. Pragyan Ojha, the left-arm spinner, briefly threatened with two quick wickets: he had Mohammad Kaif top-edging a slog-sweep before having Himalaya Sagar stumped with a well-flighted ball.Chawla quickly diminished South’s hopes, blasting two fours and a six as he countered the spinners. Central lost a wicket against the run of play when Fazal holed out to Pragyan while trying to take on S Badrinath’s offspin. But with only 24 runs required, Rohit Sharma made his way to a brisk 21 not out, finishing things off by launching Vinay Kumar beyond the midwicket boundary.South were in trouble as soon as their innings began when both Robin Uthappa and Bharat Chipli fell victim to the swing of Praveen Kumar. Seamer Rajesh Kanojia then struck twice in quick time, dismissing Badrinath and Dinesh Karthik as South collapsed to 41 for 4. But Rahul Dravid, who looked solid during his 70-ball 51, and Arjun Yadav (41) led the rescue act with 56-run fifth-wicket stand.Once Dravid departed, South’s lower order folded up without putting up a fight. Chawla bowled C Raghu and Vinay, both of whom failed to pick up his wrong ‘un before Kanojia returned to have Yadav caught behind. Chawla picked up his third when he had Saurabh Bandekar nicking to the keeper, and soon enough, Raina brought the innings to a close when he dismissed Pragyan.

Cricket Australia is likely to allow Adam Gilchrist to play in the IPL despite an agreement between organisers and boards forbidding players to join until two years after their international career is over. While the move could set a precedent for others who may be lured to the league by the cash, the argument is that the cooling off period is designed to stop young players quitting early for a long career in the Twenty20 competition.Gilchrist is 36 and will retire from internationals in March, but is still contracted to Cricket Australia. CA is keen to use him as a coach and in promotions, but again this isn’t seen as an obstacle because the IPL lasts for only two months.Gilchrist did not foresee any problems with the deal. “The IPL is moving quickly and we’re just trying to get a gauge on what the restrictions are,” Gilchrist told . “As far as I know at the moment, Cricket Australia haven’t given me any indication they wouldn’t want me to part of that, but I’m not 100% sure. We’re just trying to confirm that.”Lalit Modi has said no player could retire early to sign an IPL deal without permission from his national board.Gilchrist will meet with CA’s chief executive James Sutherland soon to discuss the options. The board may not be so lenient in other instances, as it is understood to be considering using its powers of veto for contracted players.Before the IPL begins, however, there is the small matter of the CB Series to complete and Gilchrist is not concerned about Australia’s fielding of late. “As long as cricket’s played there are going to be dropped catches,” he said. “Sometimes they come in little patches, little clumps, and at other times you go through many, many games without dropping one and no-one writes a story about how great the catching’s been. All we can do is keep working hard at training and make sure we’re as sharp as possible come game day.”

Ricky Ponting believes he can overcome the persistent threat of Harbhajan Singh despite falling early to the offspinner in the second innings in Melbourne. Harbhajan has dismissed Ponting six times in seven Tests and will play a crucial role alongside Anil Kumble as India attempt to level the series in Sydney.Harbhajan joked at the MCG he hadn’t seen enough of Ponting to have a plan for him on this tour, but it is a serious matter for Australia’s captain. “He’s got a great record in Tests against me,” Ponting said of Harbhajan. “He got me first ball last week.”The 2001 contest, when Ponting scored 17 runs and slipped five times against Harbhajan in three Tests, is one of his few international scars, but he is not bothered by the problems against offspin. “It’s a long time from that series in India six years ago, where he had the measure of me,” Ponting said. “But it could be my turn here. It’s just a matter of time before I get some runs.”Ponting picked up two half-centuries against Sri Lanka in November, but was the only Australian batsman to miss out in Melbourne, scoring 4 and 3. “I have got a good record here, I’ve made five hundreds on this ground,” he said. “Hopefully that can be the case this week. It was lean last week, I had almost as many catches as runs. But I had a good net, I’m coming off a couple of hundreds in the ODIs [against New Zealand] and I’m feeling good to go.”The slow start has not convinced India to downgrade the Ponting threat and Kumble remains wary. Kumble knows how potent Harbhajan is against Ponting, but will wait to decide whether to bring him on as soon as the captain enters.”It all depends on what’s happening at that stage,” Kumble said. “We understand that Ricky is the key and it’s important we get him early.”Harbhajan also has a strong record against Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist, who have been dismissed seven times in eight Tests, but he had less impact in Melbourne, taking three wickets to Kumble’s seven. The visiting spinners will have a huge say in whether Australia can equal the world record of 16 consecutive wins, which was set by Steve Waugh and ended by India in 2001.”The only thing wrong with discussing it is that it takes the focus away from the game,” Ponting, who has tried to avoid talk of the achievement, said. “When you’re facing a ball, or starting to bowl, you need a nice clear mind. I don’t mind a bit of talk about it, but if it gets too much, I would like to put it down.”

It’s not a tag you would want to hand any young cricketer, but Stuart Broad’s success in the early days of his international career is already getting him dubbed as Andrew Flintoff’s successor. Although he has some way to go to match the all-round performances of Flintoff, it is Broad’s efforts with the ball that are raising expectations.He has claimed six wickets in the first three ODIs against New Zealand; he was the one shining light in the opening six-wicket defeat in Wellington and played a key role in the comeback win in Auckland with 3 for 32. His first spell in that match was an outstanding 7-1-12-2 and helped set the tone for England’s victory.After 24 matches Broad has 36 wickets despite taking just five in his first six matches. Among England bowlers with at least 30 ODI scalps, Broad’s strike-rate of 33.8 puts him second behind Flintoff by just one decimal point. However, the most important thing for Broad is that he is continuing to learn and develop his bowling.”At first, I barely picked up a wicket and I wondered where one was coming from,” he told . “I think the more you play, the more you learn how to take wickets in different scenarios. I feel I’m learning when to bowl balls and when to bowl a bouncer a bit better, but it does depend on which role you’re doing.”Coming on first change, when Jimmy [James Anderson] and Ryan [Sidebottom] have bowled well up front, it’s a lot easier to come on when the pressure is on the batsman and get some wickets so that has helped me out massively.”Broad didn’t escape the hammering that England’s attack received during the second ODI in Hamilton when Jesse Ryder and Brendon McCullum slammed 165 in little more than 18 overs. His three overs went for 32, but it isn’t the first time Broad has had to come back from some severe punishment. During the ICC World Twenty20 he was clubbed for six sixes in an over by Yuvraj Singh and quickly pushed it to the back of his mind.”International cricket is a fantastic place to play because you know that if you’re not at the top of your game, you get punished and it makes you keep your standards high,” he said “You learn from your mistakes and you learn quickest if you bounce back. County cricket is still a very good standard but you can still get away with a few things.”International cricket really makes you nail your variations. I’ve come in and worked on different cutters and slower balls and not running up and bowling at the same pace with the stock ball – little things like that really help and hopefully when I go back to county cricket, I will implement them there as well.”

Martin van Jaarsveld, the South Africa and Titans batsman and Quinton Friend, the Dolphins bowler, have been found guilty of breaching Cricket South Africa’s Code of Conduct and are duly suspended.The issue arose during Dolphins’ and Titans’ match at Kingsmead two weeks ago when the “conduct and actions of both players [was] considered in breach of clause 1.3” CSA’s Code of Conduct. The clause relates to verbal abuse.Van Jaarsveld is not permitting to play in Titans’ next two SuperSport Series matches, while Friend is banned from one Dolphins game.

Michael Clarke will not necessarily succeed Ricky Ponting as Australia’s captain despite his promotion to the top job for next week’s Twenty20 game against New Zealand, according to Adam Gilchrist. Ponting is being rested for Tuesday’s match and Clarke was named captain of a squad that included Gilchrist and Michael Hussey, both of whom have filled in for Ponting in the past.The move was seen as an indication that Clarke would be groomed to eventually take over from Ponting on a full-time basis. However, Gilchrist said that was not a done deal, although he supported the decision to give Clarke a taste of leadership in the Twenty20 match.”It’s not just Pup [Clarke],” Gilchrist told the . “Mike Hussey was captain in the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy earlier this year and is obviously a candidate. It’s a matter of the selectors exploring all the options as they plan for the future.”They should certainly keep Huss in the loop and any other guys they think will be worthy of higher honours down the track. I’m reluctant to assume that [Clarke] has automatically got the job and I don’t think he assumes that either.”Clarke, 26, has age in his favour as Hussey, 32, is only five months younger than Ponting, who is expected to play for several more years. A handful of younger batsmen have gained captaincy experience at state level including Adam Voges, Marcus North, Cameron White and George Bailey, but whether any of them will reach Test level remains unknown.Gilchrist said it was a good move to give Clarke some extra responsibility. “It makes sense starting to invest in a few guys for the future,” he said. “He has shown a real eagerness to learn all about leadership and enjoyed it in his younger days. He has a thirst to learn about the role and is quite an astute tactical thinker.”This is a good step in his development. He will learn over time that captaincy involves great responsibilities off the field as well as on it. But he is a smart kid and he looks after himself so he should grow into that.”Ponting’s predecessor Steve Waugh also said if Clarke had been earmarked for future leadership then it made sense to hand him the reins for a one-off match. “It gives him a bit of a taste in Twenty20 where the stakes aren’t so high, you don’t have to make so many crucial decisions,” Waugh told the .”It gives you a feel for the job so I think it’s a pretty good move. It doesn’t guarantee you are going to be the next leader but he certainly is the favourite.”

Haryana were in a position of considerable strength at stumps on thesecond day of their North Zone Cooch Behar Trophy match against Jammu& Kashmir at the MA stadium in Jammu on Monday. After being in arrearsby 218 runs on the first innings, J&K were 31 for two in their secondinnings at close.Resuming at 61 for no loss, Haryana declared at 346 for seven.Manvinder Bisla (45) left early but the other opener Bhuvnesh Sharmaand captain Ishan Ganda added 114 runs for the second wicket off 31overs. Sharma was then out for 78. He faced 137 balls and hit 12fours. Sumeet Sharma (13) did not last very long but Ganda and DeepakJoon compounded J&K’s agony by some fine strokeplay. Ganda reached hiscentury but retired hurt when his score was 101. He faced 186 ballsand hit 12 of them to the ropes. Joon’s 40 was compiled off 70 ballsand Amit Mishra contributed a valuable 28 inclusive of two fours and asix.In J&K’s second innings, opening bowler Nitin Aggarwal dismissedMudassar Ashraf and Vimarash Kaw in the space of three deliveries forducks, leaving the home team an uphill task to stave off defeat on thefinal day.

A Test-match trial of Muttiah Muralitharan’s action, as suggested by Shane Warne, seems unlikely with the news the ICC will not have the technology for such tests for at least two years. Warne said it would give Muralitharan and the cricketing world “peace of mind” to have Muralitharan’s bowling style assessed in match conditions.However, Muralitharan was unconvinced that further analysis was necessary. “I don’t know about that,” Muralitharan said in the . “I have done a lot of testing.”The paper reported that the ICC was working with biomechanics experts to develop a system where trials could occur during matches, but the technology was still some way from completion. Daryl Foster, the former Western Australia coach who helped analyse Muralitharan’s action at the University of Western Australia in 2004, said laboratory trials were the best measure for the time being.”With the technology we have available at the moment, and the margin of error that exists, it’s far better for the time being that this is done in a controlled laboratory environment,” Foster said. Muralitharan’s action has been repeatedly cleared by the ICC since he was first no-balled for throwing during the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne in 1995-96.

Ricky Ponting says Phil Jaques will not be under significant pressure in the first Test against Sri Lanka as he is the only one of Australia’s potential new openers in form. Jaques will play his third Test when the series starts at the Gabba on Thursday and Ponting advised the newest member of his top order to “relax”.”[Chris] Rogers, [Brad] Hodge, [Shane] Watson and himself were the four mentioned, and he is the only one that has done anything at the start of this season, so he thoroughly deserves his opportunity,” Ponting told the . “If you look at things at the moment he’s the only one who has grabbed that opportunity.”Rogers might have had the edge over Jaques at the end of last summer having topped the Pura Cup run tally with 1202 at 70.70. However, he made 9 and 17 in Western Australia’s opening game this season and was then struck down with appendicitis.Another hamstring injury ruled Watson out of the race, while Hodge was in poor form in the ODI series in India. Hodge tried opening in Victoria’s Pura Cup match last week – he made 2 and 0 – and although he managed 162 on Saturday for his Melbourne club side Jaques already had the Test position sewn up.After a strong Australia A tour of Pakistan, Jaques opened his Pura Cup season with 167 for New South Wales in the same match in which Rogers failed. “I don’t think there is any pressure on him now,” Ponting said.”The pressure was on him in the first couple of games of the season, and now that he has been picked he can relax into things and hopefully get some runs in the first couple of Tests. He deserves his chance and he’s a guy that loves batting and usually when he gets in he makes big scores, so hopefully he can do that for Australia.”