Was It Time For Mumbai Indians To Let Go Of Him? AB de Villiers Stunned By Franchise's Decision To Trade Cameron Green

Former South Africa captain AB de Villiers has questioned Mumbai Indians’ decision to trade allrounder Cameron Green to Royal Challengers Bangalore ahead of the next season of the Indian Premier League (IPL).

The five-time IPL champions traded the Australia allrounder in order to raise funds for the Hardik Pandya deal. Both the developments took place after Sunday’s (November 26) 5pm IST deadline for franchises to announce lists of players released and retained ahead of the auction. At the time of the deadline, both the allrounders were part of their former IPL teams.

However, the transfer window was still open and Mumbai Indians went ahead with the trade. They first traded Cameron Green to Royal Challengers Bangalore in an all-cash deal before securing the services of Hardik Pandya from Gujarat Titans. By trading Cameron Green, Mumbai added INR 17.50 crore to their purse and needed INR 15 crore for Pandya.

AB de Villiers surprised with Cameron Green’s transfer:

Speaking on his YouTube channel, AB de Villiers expressed his surprise over Mumbai Indians’ decision to release Cameron Green after just one season. In the last auction, Mumbai Indians made the allrounder their costliest player of all time as they secured his services for a whopping amount of INR 17.50 crore.

The fast-bowling allrounder made a slow start to life in IPL before shifting gears. In the end, he scored an impressive 452 runs at an average 50.22 in his maiden IPL season. He also smashed a 47-run ball century against Sunrisers Hyderabad. While AB de Villiers was surprised with Mumbai Indians’ decision, he was also delighted that the Australia star would play for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the upcoming season.

“That’s huge news. Was it time for Mumbai Indians to let go of him? He had a wonderful season and scored that incredible hundred. We know what he can offer with the ball in hand as well. I’m very happy to announce that he will be playing for RCB this coming season,” said AB de Villiers.