'If You Pay For An All-Rounder...': Akash Chopra Slams Cameron Green After ₹25.20 Cr KKR Star 'Not Allowed' To Bowl In IPL 2026

Cameron Green, the most expensive foreign player in IPL history, did not bowl as his new franchise KKR slipped to a 6-wicket defeat at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday. Bough for a staggering ₹25.20 crore, Green is featuring as a pure batter, having not received a clearance to bowl by his parent board Cricket Australia. Captain Ajinkya Rahane wasn't amused when he revealed it to the press on Sunday, with ex-India opener Akash Chopra opining that KKR should be eligible for some sort of 'refund'.

"If you pay for an All-Rounder and get a batsman in return…you should be, at the very least, eligible for a refund," Chopra wrote on X.

Green was signed for a record ₹25.20 crore hoping to fill the all-round void of the retired Andre Russell. Incidentally, Green had registered for the auction as a pure batter, which the all-rounder had then brushed off as a 'manager error'. While the Australian batted at 3, he did not bowl even as MI looked to be running away with the contest.

When quizzed why he had not used Green, Rahane pointedly responded to Ravi Shastri on broadcast, "You need to ask Cricket Australia."

Rahane added that KKR need the Australian to chip in with ball in hand to add balance to their attack. The three-time champions have been ravaged by injuries with frontline quicks - Harshit Rana, Akash Deep and Matheesha Pathirana all unavailable due to injuries.

"Hopefully Green starts to bowl soon and the combination will be slightly different. It was really tough (for bowlers). Inexperienced bowling attack, but these boys will learn. Strong batting lineup. So it's a learning curve. I thought MI batted well. So our bowlers will definitely learn," Rahane tried to put things in perspective.