Cameron Green and Matheesha Pathirana cash in after IPL auction spree in Abu Dhabi

Kolkata Knight Riders lavished two of the highest fees ever on overseas players as Cameron Green and Matheesha Pathirana enjoyed bumper pay days at the IPL auction.

Early on a heady day of bidding at Etihad Arena ahead of the 2026 season, KKR smashed the record for the biggest salary for a foreign player.

After a three-way tussle also involving Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings, Green, the Australia all-rounder, was eventually bought for INR 25.2 crore (around $2.8 million).

That exceeded the previous highest amount for a foreign player to figure in the Indian franchise league.

That was INR 24.75 crore (around $2.7m) paid by the same franchise to recruit Mitchell Starc, Green’s Australia teammate, last season.

Green will not receive that total amount. The money overseas players can receive is capped at 18 crore (around $2m); beyond that, the money is redirected to the Indian board’s player development programme.

It means Green now has two of the four highest fees for overseas players in the league’s history. Three seasons ago he was recruited by Mumbai Indians for INR 17.5 crore (around $1.9m).

“I think we were quite happy with the price at which we got him,” Venky Mysore, the managing director of KKR, said.

“There was always a concern that had it gone higher, what we would have done. I think the fact is, we were very keen, but not so attached.

“At some level if you felt that it could affect the rest of the auction, we would have let it go. Fortunately, that didn’t happen, and it came within the range that we were looking at.”

Later in the afternoon, KKR had their chequebook out again as they ended another bidding war by paying INR 18 crore (around $2m) for Pathirana. That was the fourth highest fee for an overseas player in the league’s history.

Pathirana had given a timely reminder to potential IPL suitors the previous evening in the DP World International League in Sharjah.

The Sri Lankan fast bowler