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.
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.
"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$330,000) to their coterie of Australians. Matthew Short (AU$250,000) joined CSK and SRH made New South Wales allrounder Jack Edwards ($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.