It is a situation that only the vagaries of the IPL auction can explain. Eleven months after failing to attract interest from all 10 franchises, Phil Salt attracted a winning bid of Rs 11.50 million (around £1.08 million or $1.37 million) from Royal Challengers Bengaluru on Sunday at night, and will spend next spring opening the batting with Virat Kohli. at M Chinnaswamy Stadium.
Despite his snub in last year’s auction, Salt became an integral part of Kolkata Knight Riders’ title-winning team in IPL 2024. After signing as a replacement player, he scored 435 runs, at a strike rate of 182, and formed a dynamic opening. association with Sunil Narine. KKR made an aggressive bid to win him back on Sunday but ended up running out of funds.
KKR had retention rights on Salt before the auction but opted to retain six other players. “There wasn’t much talk about retention,” Salt told ESPNcricinfo. “I feel like after winning the IPL they probably had the toughest job of all the franchises, figuring out which direction they were trying to go with their retentions, so I just left them with that.”
They entered into a bidding war with RCB, but after spending INR 23.75 crore to bring back Venkatesh Iyer, they backed out. “As you saw, they went to great lengths to try to bring me back,” Salt said. “But the way the auction went for the different teams up to that point, maybe there wasn’t enough money in the room.”
The result is that Salt will be part of a characteristically formidable RCB batting line-up, with head coach Andy Flower confirming that he will open with Kohli. “I have enormous respect for Virat,” Salt said. “I’ve always had a bit of a chat with him, and laughed and joked, when I’ve played against him in the past, so I’m looking forward to playing alongside him.”
He seems to be a perfect fit for a franchise associated with fearless batting and remembers watching Chris Gayle and AB de Villiers play for them as a teenager. “They have a very clear way of playing, which is to go out and attack,” Salt said. “They have always had passionate personalities, and their batting line-ups have been world class.
“They are one of the few teams that, when I was watching the IPL years ago, if they were playing, I turned on the TV. “They obviously have Andy there and Mo Bobat. [as director of cricket and I really want to play with them. “Having been around them a bit, I know we’re pretty similar thinkers on the game in some ways, and their track record speaks for itself.”
Salt followed the auction from the United Arab Emirates, where he plays and captains the Abu Dhabi team in the Abu Dhabi T10. “It was very good,” he said. “It obviously seems like a long way off right now, but I’m very, very excited about it.”
He will have two England teammates for company in Bengaluru: Liam Livingstone, who has spent the last three seasons at Punjab Kings, and IPL newcomer Jacob Bethell. “He’s very committed and there aren’t many people who have the ability that he has,” Salt said of Bethell. “Hopefully, he will do well in his upcoming Test debut.”
Salt revealed his own ambitions to play Test
cricket earlier this year, but his chance to press his case for selection in the County Championship was thwarted by his IPL contract and he has not played a first-class game in more than a year. He was mentioned as a contender when Jordan Cox went down injured in New Zealand this week, but Ollie Robinson is the preferred replacement.
Salt recently signed his first central contract with England but has not yet sought talks with either Rob Key or Brendon McCullum to discuss a possible route to the Test side. In any case, it is unlikely that there will be a vacancy left after the New Zealand tour when Jamie Smith returns from paternity leave.
“It’s been said before that you don’t need to play a lot of red-ball cricket to make a case,” Salt said. “But I’m pretty happy with where I am, right now… It’s complicated. I would have liked to play more. I would like to play all the formats, but the way the schedule is right now. For me, that’s not the easiest thing to do.”
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