RCB’s Director of Cricket, Mo Bobat on Thursday said that the franchise wanted to retain Australian Cameron Green but they didn’t opt for it because of the allrounder’s injury that effectively rules him out of the upcoming IPL season.
“There was one other player we certainly would have retained. That’s Cameron Green. But he’s unfortunately out of the IPL due to injury,” Bobat said.
Green had been traded to Royal Challengers Bengaluru from Mumbai Indians for Rs 17.50 crore before last season’s IPL but could not make an impact for the franchise, scoring just 255 runs in 13 matches and snapping up 10 wickets.
Fate has its twists, but the support never fades. ❤️
Comeback stronger, Cam! We hope to see you on the field soon. 👊#PlayBold #ನಮ್ಮRCB #IPLRetention pic.twitter.com/Vpe8d7umNr
— Royal Challengers Bengaluru (@RCBTweets) October 31, 2024
Two weeks ago, Cricket Australia had announced that the hosts will have to do without the services of allrounder Cameron Green against India in the upcoming Border Gavaskar Trophy due to him set to undergo a back surgery.
Green who was diagnosed with a lower back injury during the ODI series in England, is expected to miss around 6 months of action which will rule him out of February’s Test tour of Sri Lanka and the Champions Trophy in Pakistan.
Meanwhile, Virat Kohli was retained at a whopping Rs 21 crore, making the former India captain the most-expensive Indian retention during the IPL 2025 Player Retentions on Thursday.
Besides Kohli, RCB have only retained middle-order batter Rajat Patidar and left-arm seamer Yash Dayal. While Patidar was retained at Rs 11 crore, Dayal was marked at Rs 5 crore. This also means that RCB will have three Right to Match (RTM) cards available during the upcoming IPL 2025 Mega Auction.
The major speculation around three-time finalists Royal Challengers Bengaluru was the possible return to leadership for Kohli. While there was hardly any doubt that Kohli was going to be RCB’s top retention, it remains to be seen if the former India captain returns to a leadership role after a break.