Cameron Green says he didn't do much to earn his huge IPL payday and believes it won't change him as a person or how he approaches his cricket.
Green, 23, was bought for a staggering INR 17.50 crore (AUD 3.15 million approx.) by Mumbai Indians in Friday's IPL auction at the end of a frenzied bidding war with Delhi Capitals.
The Australia allrounder then capped an extraordinary week by claiming his maiden Test five-wicket haul on the opening day of the second Test against South Africa in Melbourne.
Speaking after his best Test bowling performance, Green admitted he felt like he hadn't done a lot in T20 cricket to justify the huge price tag in the IPL despite Mumbai Indians owner Akash Ambani believing he would bring "lifetime value" to the franchise.
"To be fair, I think I didn't do much to kind of earn that," Green said. "I just put my name into the auction, and it just happened. It doesn't change who I am or how I think and all the confidence I have in my cricket. Hopefully, I didn't change too much."
Green said on Friday that he was shaking after the final bid was made in the auction. But he quickly had to turn his attention to the Test match that was starting on Monday. He believes the occasion and his team-mates were able to bring him back down to earth.
"Definitely the players can bring you back down pretty quickly," Green said. "It's a good group that we've got at the moment. Everyone gets around you when they need to and can bring you back pretty quickly when they want to. I think everyone was focused on Boxing Day. It's a fixture that you point out at the start of the year, and you look forward to so now that takes your focus 100%."
Green was the subject of some light-hearted needling from his team-mates both in the lead-up to the auction and in the aftermath. At training at the MCG on Friday prior to the auction, Nathan Lyon was asking Green which luxurious Perth suburb he might be able to afford to move into.
But Green said it was all good-natured and that Usman Khawaja had made a point of telling him as much.
"I try and brush it all aside to be fair, I'm not trying to read too much into it," Green said. "Uzzie has been onto me. He basically came up to me and said, 'I want to just let you know that it's all very light humour and just because I love you and I'm just so happy for you.' The boys were really good."