Kochi, Dec 23 (IANS): In a fierce bidding war for the most-anticipated all-rounder pool in the IPL 2023 mini player auctions, five-time IPL champions Mumbai Indians signed Australia's young star all-rounder Cameron Green at a whopping price of INR 17.5 crores, making him the second most expensive player in the history of the tournament.
Green, 23, has been one of most talked about youngsters in the cricket circles with his consistent and game-changing performances. He debuted for Australia in T20Is in April this year.
In eight matches, Green has a strike of 173.75 and has scored two half-centuries. Both fifties came against India in September - 61 off 30 balls and 52 off 21 deliveries in Mohali and Hyderabad respectively. With the ball, Green has picked five wickets, averaging 35.60 and at an economy rate of 8.90.
"We have been following and tracking Cameron Green for the last two-three years and with his recent performances, we thought that he is exactly what we needed. We were looking for a younger player and he fits the right age profile for us."
"If you have noticed, over the last two auctions, we have deliberately picked players that are on the younger side and give us more lifetime value and that's why we thought that Cameron is the perfect guy for us to come in. We are very happy to get Cameron Green," said Akash Ambani -- Owner, Mumbai Indians, in a press conference during the first break in the auction happening in Kochi.
Asked about the ideology of bidding for young players, Ambani explained, "It's always a mixture, of course we have retained a lot of experienced players with Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah leading those attacks, but I guess it's also bit of strategy from our perspective to go for younger player who gives us longevity."
Green attracted bidding from Royal Challengers Bangalore, Delhi Capitals and Mumbai. But eventually, Mumbai roped him in. "These are auction dynamics for 10 teams. Last three years the highest auction price has been broken, it just shows the demand and the level of excellence the players possess be it a Ben Stokes or Sam Curran or Cameron Green, it shows that the franchises are willing to put money on these players because of the skills they possess," concluded Ambani.