Kolkata Knight Riders’ high-profile acquisition Cameron Green has resumed bowling in the nets and is “not far off” from doing so in an IPL match, bowling coach Tim Southee said on Sunday.
The Australian all-format all-rounder, the IPL’s most expensive overseas buy at Rs 25.20 crore, has not bowled so far this season as Cricket Australia monitors his workload following his back surgery.
“Yes, Green is bowling well, figuring out his recovery and making himself fit to bowl in games. He will continue to do that,” Southee said ahead of KKR’s clash against Punjab Kings.
However, it is unlikely that Green will bowl against PBKS on Monday, although he was seen going full throttle in Saturday’s practice session.
Sunday’s matchday minus-one training was wrapped up at the Eden Gardens, with most of the regulars away, while a few domestic recruits, including Angkrish Raghuvanshi and Rahul Tripathi, trained indoors.
KKR’s inexperienced pace attack — in the absence of Mustafizur Rahman, Harshit Rana, Akash Deep and Mathisha Patherana for various reasons — has been a major talking point earlier in the season.
The problem has been compounded by Green’s inability to bowl, which became a talking point after KKR failed to defend 220 in their opening match against Mumbai Indians at Wankhede.
Responding to a broadcaster’s question about Green not bowling, captain Ajinkya Rahane quipped, “Ask Cricket Australia”, prompting his board to clarify that KKR was “fully aware” of his recovery timeline and workload management plan.
Southee said the franchise is in constant touch with the Australian board.
“We are in regular contact with Cricket Australia and I am sure we will see Cameron bowling soon. I am sure he is not far away from bowling in a match.”
KKR have lost both their matches so far, including a crushing 65-run defeat by Sunrisers Hyderabad to open the opening leg in their previous match on April 2.
Their inexperienced pace attack continues. Mustafizur’s replacement Blessing Mazarbani impressed with figures of 4/41, while youngsters Vibhu Arora and Karthik Tyagi also showed promise with timely hits, but the experienced spin duo of Sunil Narine and Varun Chakraborty have yet to make an impact.
“It’s definitely a long tournament, over two games. With the bowlers failing we failed, it creates opportunities for the other guys. We’re still excited about the bowling group,” Southee said.
“They’re inexperienced but they’ve got a lot of skill. We’ve seen that in highlights in the first two games. It’s our job to get some more consistency out of them.”
“Even though the first two games haven’t gone as planned, I’m sure they will show throughout the tournament how skilled and how good they can be at this level.”
Southee stressed the need for early wickets, especially in the powerplay.
“It’s always difficult when you’re not taking wickets, especially in the powerplay. Taking early wickets stops the flow of runs and makes things easier. We haven’t been able to do that yet, but we’ll plan accordingly and hopefully they’ll take early wickets.”
Team selection has also come under scrutiny, with the likes of Tim Seifert, Rachin Ravindra and Rowman Powell still missing.
But Southee said finding the right combination is never straightforward.
“I think you look at all the squads, there are a lot of good players to choose from. There is a debate about which team plays the best match against the opposition and the conditions,” Southee said.
“There’s so much talent that it’s hard to get the perfect balance. But that’s the side that we think is best for the first two games. We’ll plan for who we’re going to play and pick the team that gives us the best chance.”
