3 teams that should look to sign Cameron Green at IPL 2023 Auction

Australian all-rounder Cameron Green recently confirmed that he has signed up for the IPL auction for the first time. The 23-year-old top-order big-hitter is the owner of the joint-highest T20I half-century for Australia. He also has the ability to consistently bowl at a 140 kmph-plus pace.

All-rounders often go for big money at IPL auctions and Green will likely compete with Sam Curran, Ben Stokes, and Jason Holder for the highest bids this year. His age is a differentiating factor. Teams will see the youngster as a long-term investment, though, as David Warner pointed out, with the caveat of his workload management.

All things considered, below are three teams who can and should look to target him.

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Lucknow Super Giants

Having released Jason Holder, the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) have a massive all-rounder hole to fill in their squad. Holder did decently with the ball but failed to make an impact on the batting front. He either played as the last batter or a No. 4, with neither role suiting him. In fact, it ended up making the LSG batting order too clumsy and unreliable in key situations.

Green can't play as an opener in front of KL Rahul or Quinton de Kock but he has all the qualities to be a No. 3. LSG have also released Evin Lewis, who they started with as their one-down last season. Although Deepak Hooda played well in that position, he can do the same at No. 4, with Krunal Pandya following him at five.

This will give them as many as nine bowling options and aggressive batters until Mohsin Khan at No. 8. If Rahul wants Marcus Stoinis or Hooda to bat in the top order in some games, LSG can always try the Aussie as the finisher - a role he has played well in ODIs and Tests but hasn't been able to replicate in T20s yet.

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SunRisers Hyderabad

SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) have a massive purse of ₹42.25 crore remaining and need to rebuild from scratch.

They have released their anchor-opener Kane Williamson, finisher Nicholas Pooran and pace all-rounder Romario Shepherd. Green will add immense balance to the team because he can play all these roles separately and together.

As an opener, he scored 61 (30), five (four), and 52 (21) against India before the T20 World Cup. His strike rate of 214.55 in the series would be a major enticing factor for SRH, who had the worst strike rate in the powerplay in IPL 2022, just 108.52.

A batting order of Abhishek Sharma, Green, Rahul Tripathi, Aiden Markram, and Glenn Phillips is as good as it gets in T20Is. Add an Indian hard-hitter and a quality spinner and SRH have got a team to compete for the trophy.

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Punjab Kings

Like SRH, Punjab Kings (PBKS) also gave up on their top-order anchor in Mayank Agarwal and finisher in Odean Smith and now have space for a hard-hitter to fit in at No. 3.

Green could be the perfect man to come after Shikhar Dhawan and Jonny Bairstow and form a daunting partnership with Liam Livingstone at No. 4. Bhanuka Rajapaksa played the role well last season, but he looked a shadow of that in the recent T20 World Cup. Green, meanwhile, also provides better balance.

He and Livingstone can seamlessly combine to be the fifth bowling option, allowing PBKS to play an extra batter whenever needed. With their ₹32.2 crore budget, signing Green as well as that extra batter shouldn't be an issue.

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