After the first five matches, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have one point in their bag, courtesy of a washed-out match against Punjab Kings. The rest of the four games have resulted in losses. At the IPL 2026 auction, KKR went in with the maximum purse (over Rs 60 crore) and even made high-profile signings like Cameron Green (Rs 25.20 crore), Finn Allen and Tim Seifert. Yet, most of them have failed to fire. Green was expected to boost the team in both batting and bowling. Yet, in five matches so far, he has bowled in only two, picking just one wicket. His returns with the bat are 18, 2, 4, 32* and 0.
India great Virender Sehwag felt that the KKR team management must not shy away from accepting that Green is having a poor run and should drop him if it is for the team’s benefit.
“If you had that much money and still bought these players, spending Rs 25-27 crore on Cameron Green, then now he has become a liability. If you play him, he isn’t performing,” Sehwag said on Cricbuzz.
“If you don’t play him, people will question why you spent so much money and then benched him. But there is no shame in accepting a mistake. Just admit that you made a mistake by spending so much on Cameron Green. His bowling is not contributing much either, and it’s not like his presence is making the team combination look great because of both his batting and bowling.”
Sehwag suggested that Tim Seifert can be tried at the top of the batting order by dropping Green.
“So I feel you should bench him and play Tim Seifert instead. Recently, you saw him perform well for New Zealand. Those same two openers played aggressive innings,” Sehwag said.
“Bring both of them in and let them open. Then bring Ajinkya Rahane at number three, Powell at four, and push Raghavanshi further down. That way, if Rahane gets out, Raghavanshi can come in, and if someone else gets out, then Powell or Rinku can come in.