Two Australians went under the hammer in the first set of players in the 2025 IPL Auction in Abu Dhabi—delivering two extremely different outcomes.
Victorian batsman Jake Fraser-McGurk was first up and went unsold after attracting no bids.
Moments later all-rounder Cameron Green was subject of a fierce bidding war and ultimately sold for a record 25.2 crore to the Kolkata Knight Riders (AUD$4.17 million).
Unfortunately for the towering West Australian, he will ‘only’ get to pocket 18 crore of that himself—new IPL rules mean the balance gets paid into a player welfare fund.
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In a frenzy of paddle waving, the Chennai Super Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders pushed Green’s price to the highest ever seen in the IPL for an overseas player, surpassing last year’s record set by fellow Australian Test player Mitchell Starc who was purchased for 24.75 crore in 2024, also by the Kolkata Knight Riders.
Still, given 18 crore is close to AUD$3 million, it’s another handsome IPL pay day coming up for the 26-year-old Green who was sold for 17.5 crore (AUD$3.15 million at the time) in the 2023 IPL auction.
By the end of the night, other Australians to be picked up in Tuesday’s IPL auction included Cooper Connolly, Josh Inglis, Ben Dwarshuis and Jack Edwards.
Steve Smith went unsold.
Presenting the Top 5⃣ buys of #TATAIPLAuction 2026 🙌
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) December 16, 2025
Which was your favourite bid? 🔨#TATAIPL pic.twitter.com/cBeFFZ9FKp