IPL 2025 mega auction: RCB spend 11.5 crores to buy swashbuckling England opener Phil Salt

Phil Salt scored 435 runs for KKR in IPL 2024.

Few openers in the world can be as destructive in T20 cricket as England’s Phil Salt. Part of England’s T20 World Cup 2022 winning side, Salt has become England’s first-choice opener in T20Is alongside Jos Buttler owing to his consistency and pyrotechnics at the top of the order.

Salt made his T20I debut in 2022 and quickly cemented himself in England’s best XI in the format after Alex Hales retired and Jason Roy was dropped due to his poor form.

In 38 T20Is, Salt has scored 1106 runs at a strike rate of 165. He’s plundered three T20I centuries along with four fifties. He may not always bat for long but Salt always looks to make the most out of the powerplay field restrictions.

Salt has also featured in 27 ODI matches, in which he averages 34 and has struck at a strike rate of 113. Salt has one ODI ton and five fifties to his name.

Phil Salt sold to RCB for INR 11.5 crore

RCB purchased Phil Salt for INR 11.5 crore in the mega auction. They staved off competition from MI and KKR to attain Salt’s services.

Phil Salt previously in the IPL

Phil Salt’s debut in the Indian Premier League (IPL) came in 2023 when he was with Delhi Capitals. He played nine matches in IPL 2023, scored 218 runs at a strike rate of 163. DC released him.

Salt surprisingly went unsold in the IPL 2024 auction but Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) roped him in as a replacement for Jason Roy who pulled out ahead of the tournament.

It turned out to be a revelation for KKR as Salt hammered 435 runs in the season at a strike rate of 182 with four half-centuries. He blasted 50 fours and 24 sixes in the competition, forming the most deadly opening combo of the season with Sunil Narine.

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