Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], March 18 (ANI): Ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 season, South African batting veteran Faf Du Plessis expressed intrigue over how Kolkata Knight Riders' (KKR) new marquee star Cameron Green will go about fulfilling high expectations from him and backed the power-packed New Zealand pair of Tim Seifert and Finn Allen to be the team's opening pair.

The three-time champions KKR will kickstart their IPL 2026 campaign against five-time champions Mumbai Indians (MI) in a clash of heavyweights at Mumbai on March 29.

Ahead of the tournament, the main talking points are the role, batting position and expectations from the franchise's big-ticket signing Green, on whom the team splurged Rs 25.20 crores last year in the action.

Also, another point of intrigue is if Seifert and Allen, who were instrumental in the Kiwis' run to the finals in the ICC T20 World Cup final this year, will be playing as openers or if there will be another combination in place, perhaps with an Indian player like the skipper Ajinkya Rahane or Angkrish Raghuvanshi.

Speaking on JioHotstar's 'Game Plan - Know Your Team, Du Plessis said about Green that he has 'potential to succeed' as a 'multi-skilled marquee buy'. The Proteas star pointed out that he is a replacement for all-rounder Andre Russell, now retired and set to serve as the team's power-hitting coach.

'Cameron Green is a highly talented guy who has a lot of potential in him to succeed. He is the multi-skilled marquee buy for KKR and the replacement for Andre Russell. Green is six-foot tall, a massive guy, he bowls well, has a good bouncer and yorker, can hit the ball out of the stadium easily and is a proper batter. In short, he is a complete package. He balances KKR's team very well,' he said.

'In terms of IPL cricket, Green has a lot of potential. But form has not been on his side recently. With a price tag of Rs 25.2 crores, there is a big pressure on the price tag he will carry. There is a lot of weight on his shoulders. The team will expect a lot from him. It will be interesting to see how he goes,' he added.

However, during the T20 World Cup, Green fizzled out under the pressure of proving himself not only as a worthy buy for KKR, but most importantly also attempting to cement himself as one of the leading figures of Australia's generation next. With 24 runs in three innings, two single-digit scores and just one wicket, the 26-year-old all-rounder fumbled really hard.

In the series against Pakistan prior to the WC, which the Aussies lost via a clean sweep, Green was the leading run-getter for Australia, with 93 runs in three innings at an average of 31.00 and a strike rate of above 124 and best score of 36.

Speaking about the opening pair of Seifert-Allen being a possibility for KKR, Du Plessis said that their firepower and chemistry following a brilliant T20 World Cup will make the team's batting strong.

'We all saw the carnage they displayed in the T20 World Cup. That counts as a massive factor. Having both of them open the innings is perfect for the way T20 cricket is played now. They both go hard from the first ball and attack in different ways. So, if KKR can fit them together at the top, it will be really nice for the team,' he added.

Seifert was the leading run-getter for NZ in the tournament and overall second-highest run-getter with 326 runs in eight innings at an average of 46.57 and a strike rate of over 166, with four fifties, while Allen scored 298 runs in eight innings at an average of 49.66 and a strike rate of 200, including a 100* against South Africa in the semifinal at Kolkata, which is the fastest century in T20 World Cup history.

Both put on 494 runs combined in eight innings at an average of 70.57 and a run rate of 10.57 per over, with a fifty partnership and two century stands. Their run aggregate is the highest for any pair in any Men's T20I series.

Du Plessis also questioned how KKR will cope with their lack of bowling options, with Harshit Rana set to miss a large chunk of the tournament due to surgery and Matheesha Pathirana, brought for Rs 18 crores, also facing an injury.

Blessing Muzarabani, who impressed in Zimbabwe's Super Eight run in the T20WC this year with 13 wickets at an average of 14.46, including a four-wicket haul, is a replacement for Bangladesh pacer Mustafizur Rahman, who was released from the squad ahead of the season on instructions of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in the light of minority atrocities against Hindus in Bangladesh.

But Green, the second overseas fast bowling option, is also injury-prone and the Indian pairing of Vaibhav Arora and Akash Deep, though promising, does not have the experience and aura which would strike fear into the opponents.

'The question mark is their bowling. With the injuries they have, they almost need to pick an experienced player from the unsold list and bring that required experience into their bowling attack,' said Du Plessis.

The former South African also said that the pitch at the Eden Gardens should be made spin-friendly to bring 'two absolute cannons', Varun Chakravarthy and veteran Sunil Narine, in action.

'They are two of the best T20 spinners in the game right now. Both Varun and Narine have to be in the game. If they play on surfaces where they are not in contention, then you are losing those two cannons and your superpower. Yes, they can bowl well on any wicket and trouble batters. But for KKR to be successful this IPL, Varun and Narine need to fire. The pitch should be prepared keeping those two players in mind,' he concluded.

Kolkata Knight Riders full squad for IPL 2026: Ajinkya Rahane, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Anukul Roy, Harshit Rana, Manish Pandey, Ramandeep Singh, Rinku Singh, Rovman Powell, Sunil Narine, Umran Malik, Vaibhav Arora, Varun Chakaravarthy, Rahul Tripathi (Rs 75 lakh), Finn Allen (Rs 2 Cr), Tejasvi Singh (Rs 3 Cr), Tim Seifert (Rs 1.50 Cr), Cameron Green (Rs 25.20 Cr), Sarthak Ranjan (Rs 30 lakh), Daksh Kamra (Rs 30 lakh), Rachin Ravindra (Rs 2 Cr), Prashant Solanki (Rs 30 lakh), Matheesha Pathirana (Rs 18 Cr), Kartik Tyagi (Rs 30 lakh), Mustafizur Rahman (Rs 9.20 Cr), Akash Deep (Rs 1 Cr). (ANI)