Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) director of cricket Mo Babat shared that all-rounder Cameron Green was in the franchise's retention plans but was let go as he will miss the 2025 Indian Premier League (IPL) campaign due to injury. The Australian international suffered a serious back injury during the white-ball tour of England, and recently underwent surgery to address the issue.
Green was acquired by RCB ahead of IPL 2024 in a trade move with the Mumbai Indians (MI). The all-rounder had a relatively prolific season for his new franchise, chipping in with 255 runs at a strike rate of 143.26, and picking up 10 wickets.
RCB decided against retaining any overseas player, choosing to keep a hold of three Indians - Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, and Yash Dayal.
“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," Mo Babat said in a statement.
Cricket Australia (CA) has estimated Green's recovery time as six months, which means he will be absent for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and the tour of Sri Lanka.
Green will be in the early stages of his recovery by the time the IPL 2025 mega-auction hits later this month. With the stricter guidelines of players pulling out of auctions, the all-rounder is not bound to put his name down if he is entirely certain to recover in time for the next season in the April-May window.
"We have not made any decision related to captaincy" - Mo Babat
RCB are tasked with yet another rebuild after letting go of most of their squad. The franchise head into the auction with a massive purse of ₹83 crore, and could land one of the several big names on the auction pool.
The three-time finalists also have the task of naming Faf du Plessis' successor after the skipper was among those who were released. Early reports have suggested Virat Kohli could lead the side again, but RCB confirmed that no decision has been made yet.
"I am sorry to disappoint everybody listening. We have not made any decision related to captaincy or on that (Kohli returning as skipper) as yet. We are open to options. The only obvious decision we made was not to retain Faf. He did a great job last year and the year before that. So from our perspective, we will keep a very open mind when we head to the auction," Mo Babat said after the retention announcement.
RCB finished fourth in the previous season after a massive turnaround in the second half. They are headed towards a crucial phase with head coach Andy Flower to forge a new core and squad from scratch.
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