Cameron Green is expected to begin bowling for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) when they go up against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) at their home venue of Eden Gardens on Thursday.Green didn’t bowl at all in KKR’s first two IPL 2026 games, against Mumbai Indians (MI) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), both of which KKR lost, before their third game, against Punjab Kings (PBKS) was washed out after 3.4 overs. KKR had been informed by Cricket Australia that Green would start IPL 2026 as a specialist batter. “Cameron has a lower-back injury, which is being managed, but requires him to abstain from bowling for a short period,” CA had said on March 30. “Cameron is currently rebuilding his bowling loads in India with a view to return in around 10-12 days’ time.”
Now, with KKR playing the 15th game of the season and more than ten days having passed since that update, ESPNcricinfo understands that Green is ready to bowl in a competitive situation.
Green not bowling has affected KKR’s plans, especially with a number of their main bowlers sidelined for one reason or another. Mustafizur Rahman had been removed from the squad on instructions from the BCCI well before the tournament started, and both Harshit Rana and Akash Deep were ruled out with injuries shortly before the tournament kicked off. To add to that, Sunil Narine missed KKR’s previous game because of an illness, and Varun Chakravarthy, too, was ruled out due to a hand injury.
Not only has Green not bowled, his form with the bat has been iffy, which has led to questions about his position in the team after he was acquired by KKR at the last auction for a record sum of INR 25.20 crore, the highest price for an overseas player ever at an IPL auction, though he was only going to be paid a capped salary of INR 18 crore in accordance with IPL regulations. Green has so far scored 18, 2 and 4 in his three innings.
“One of those dismissals has been a run out [against SRH], not a part of his fault. Still, he’s missed out twice. There’s a bit of panic, he’s not looking the same as the past,” Aaron Finch said of his countrymate on ESPNcricinfo’s TimeOut on Tuesday. “Remember when he was at the top of the order for MI – how he had a totally different intent. He was imposing at the crease. Now he looks tentative. Don’t push him down. Push him either up the order, or give him a rest.”
Green has so far batted at No. 3 (twice) and No. 4 (once).
