Australia coach Andrew McDonald is pleased with all-rounder Cameron Green‘s performance in the 2026 Indian Premier League (IPL).
Green, purchased for ₹25.2 crore (USD 2.8m), didn’t bowl in the first few matches, which brought him a lot of criticism from Kolkata Knight Riders’ team management as well as fans.
Incidentally, he didn’t do well with the bat either in those matches. However, in the second half of the league phase, Green came to the party and contributed with both bat and ball. His total output was 322 runs with the bat at an average of 32.20 and a strike rate of 145.70, and 7 wickets in 14 games at an economy rate of 10.64.
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Sadly, his team couldn’t advance to the play-offs. By the time their campaign got back on track, the other terms had gone too far ahead. On Sunday night at the iconic Eden Gardens, KKR finished their campaign with a whimper following a 40-run thrashing at the hands of Delhi Capitals.
McDonald, who considers Green an important cog across formats for Australia, is happy with the way the 26-year-old is regaining his confidence after a major back surgery in 2024.
“This IPL, the skills are coming back, the white-ball skills in particular off the back of the surgery he’s had,” McDonald, who represented Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (now Royal Challengers Bengaluru), told cricket.com.au.
Green will now head to Pakistan for a 3-ODI series starting May 30. McDonald admits the expectations from Green to do consistently well across formats are a bit too much. “I’d ask the question: How many have been good at going across all three formats? Currently, it’s incredibly difficult. So are we asking too much of certain players?”
The position conundrum!
McDonald also spoke of how he intends to use Green. In regard to the 50-overs World Cup next year in South Africa and Zimbabwe, he needs more clarity as to where Green plays. “It’s really where we position him and what role we want him to play, because I think he’s got the ability to really play high up the order and low,” said McDonald.
“He does have some power, we saw in that Top End series last year against South Africa, his ability to finish off that innings in the absence of Glenn Maxwell. So we had that conversation.
“We keep these things open – experiment is not the right word – but we’ll look at different ways to play in the journey to the 2027 World Cup and where he fits exactly in that,” he added.
