Royal Challengers Bangalore on Monday officially traded Australian all-rounder Cameron Green from Mumbai Indians in an all-cash deal on his existing league fee of INR 17.50 Crore. The news of the Aussie all-rounder being traded to RCB came at the same time when star all-rounder Hardik Pandya returned home to Mumbai Indians in another cash trade. Green will now be playing for his second IPL franchise in the Indian cash-rich league.
Notably, RCB director Mo Bobat opened on the reason for trading Green from MI. Bobat called his inclusion an ideal fit for them for the middle-order role, a place RCB were lacking big time in the previous season. "He's the ideal fit for us in that middle-order power role. He's a high-quality, skilful and powerful batsman. He's got the game against both pace and spin. He's got international experience across formats and I'm sure he will enjoy batting at the Chinnaswamy. So, seeing him do that will be really exciting," Bobat told RCB Bold Diaries.
Green is a fantastic bowler too: Bobat
The RCB director called Green a 'fantastic bowler' who can bowl with pace. "He's also a fantastic bowler and he bowls with pace and bounce, which were certainly attributes we were looking for, particularly in our home conditions. Let's not forget what an exceptional fielder he is. Some of the catches he has taken in recent times fielding at gully is seriously impressive," Bobat added.
RCB's glaring issue in the middle-order
Notably, RCB were the most troubled team in the middle-order role in the last season. They possess big names in the form of Faf du Plessis, Virat Kohli and Glenn Maxwell, but the batting seemed thin after the trio in the 2023 season. In a poor record for the Bangalore franchise, their No.4 to No.7 batters scored the least amount of runs among all the teams in the previous season. RCB's middle order racked up only 710 runs, which is 65 lower than the just above-placed team in Rajasthan Royals.
RCB tried 10 players in these four places throughout the season but they accumulated only 710 runs in 14 matches. The most runs scored by the batters playing in these positions came from Kolkata Knight Riders, who made 1258 runs in 14 matches. The middle order looks the biggest reason by Green is picked by RCB.
