“Used to get a lot of cramps…”: RCB’s Cameron Green on battling chronic kidney disease as cricketer

Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India]: Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Australian all-rounder Cameron Green, who has been battling chronic kidney disease since he was a child, opened up on struggles of playing cricket while dealing with the ailment that affected his batting and training sessions.

Last year, Green disclosed that he has been fighting stage two chronic kidney disease, which was diagnosed when he was just a newborn and had a 12-year life expectancy at one point. The 24-year-old’s parents were informed by medical professionals that their son might not survive past the age of 12 due to the ailment.

“My parents got told when I was born that I had chronic kidney disease. Basically, there is no symptoms, it was just picked up through ultrasounds. Chronic kidney disease is basically a progressive disease of your kidney’s health function. Unfortunately, mine does not filter the blood as well as other kidneys. They are at about 60 percent at the moment, which is stage two,” Green told Channel 7 Australia, as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.

In the latest RCB Bold Diaries video, as quoted by RCB’s website, Green said that he used to get a lot of cramps as a kid and he would find both of his calves affected by it while batting.

“As a kid I used to always get a lot of cramps. I would always get to 60 or 70 runs and then I would find both my calves cramped. I thought I was doing something wrong or maybe I was not drinking enough water. I also thought that I was not eating enough. But then with time, I got told that there were a few other problems that were going on and not to worry about it,” he said.
Green also said that due to his disease, he has to do way too much at training, which drains a lot of energy out him.

“Obviously as an all-rounder, I would pick the wrong role in playing cricket if I have got chronic kidney disease. I think I have got to do way too much at training. You want to bat as much as the batters do and you want to bowl as much as the bowlers do and also you want to field as much. So they are very big training days and they will take a lot of energy out of you. You would need as much food as you can on the training days,” said the Australian.

Green said that however, there are a lot of good dieticians and health professionals that have helped him play the sport while dealing with a potentially life-threatening ailment.

“That is a great thing about cricket. There were a lot of good dieticians and health professionals that helped me out. They were able to keep me on the path and keep me healthy. It is just something away from cricket that I really need to look after, I think, because during cricket, you need your protein, you need your salt. I think it is working in a fine balance to be able to help your cricket but also look after your kidneys, so tough balance to get,” concluded Green.

So far in IPL 2023, Green has scored 54 runs in three matches, with the best score of 33. He has also taken two wickets.

RCB will be taking on LSG at Bengaluru on Tuesday.

Lucknow Super Giants Squad: Quinton de Kock(w), KL Rahul, Devdutt Padikkal, Marcus Stoinis, Nicholas Pooran(c), Ayush Badoni, Krunal Pandya, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohsin Khan, Mayank Yadav, Manimaran Siddharth, Naveen-ul-Haq, Amit Mishra, Kyle Mayers, Ashton Turner, Krishnappa Gowtham, Matt Henry, Deepak Hooda, Prerak Mankad, Yash Thakur, Shivam Mavi, Yudhvir Singh Charak, Arshad Khan, Shamar Joseph, Arshin Kulkarni

Royal Challengers Bengaluru Squad: Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis(c), Cameron Green, Glenn Maxwell, Rajat Patidar, Anuj Rawat(w), Alzarri Joseph, Mayank Dagar, Mohammed Siraj, Yash Dayal, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Dinesh Karthik, Karn Sharma, Reece Topley, Tom Curran, Swapnil Singh, Lockie Ferguson, Mahipal Lomror, Will Jacks, Suyash Prabhudessai, Manoj Bhandage, Akash Deep, Saurav Chauhan, Rajan Kumar, Himanshu Sharma.