Phil Salt happy and eager to work with RCB in new IPL stint as last year’s IPL winner aims to make an impact in new environment.
Phil Salt happy to be a part of the RCB franchise after being snapped up in the mega auctions.
Salt received a winning bid of INR 11.50 crore, or roughly GBP 1.08 million or USD 1.37 million, from Royal Challengers Bengaluru on Sunday night, eleven months after the ten franchises showed no interest. He will spend the upcoming spring opening the batting with Virat Kohli at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.
Salt was overlooked at the auction last year, but he went on to play a crucial role in the Kolkata Knight Riders’ IPL 2024 championship team. After joining as a replacement, he amassed 435 runs at an 182 strike rate and established a potent opening combination with Sunil Narine. On Sunday, KKR made a strong attempt to win him back, but ultimately ran out of money.
KKR had retention rights on Salt before the auction, but opted to keep hold of six other players instead. “There wasn’t a whole heap of chat around retention,” Salt told ESPNcricinfo. “I feel like, having just won the IPL, they probably had the hardest job of all the franchises. In figuring out which direction they were trying to go in with their retentions. I just sort of left them to it.”
“As you saw, they went hard to try and bring me back,” Salt said. “But with the way the auction went for the different teams up to that point. Maybe there wasn’t enough money in the room.”
Part of an RCB batting lineup that is known for its strength, with head coach Andy Flower admitting that he will open with Kohli. “I’ve got a tremendous amount of respect for Virat,” Salt said. “I’ve always had a bit of chat with him. And a laugh and a joke – when I’ve played against him in the past. So I’m looking forward to playing alongside him.”