Phil Salt replaces Jason Roy in KKR squad ahead of IPL 2024; Reason revealed

Phil Salt remained unsold in the IPL 2024 auction in December, 2023.

In a strategic move gearing up for the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 season, the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have announced the signing of Phil Salt as replacement for Jason Roy.

The decision comes after Jason Roy opted out of the IPL 2024 citing personal reasons. To fill the void left by Roy’s departure, KKR have roped in the dynamic English cricketer, Phil Salt, to bolster their batting lineup.

Salt, known for his aggressive batting style and ability to score quick runs, brings aggressive batting approach to the KKR squad. Having impressed in various T20 leagues around the world, Salt is expected to add firepower to KKR’s batting arsenal.

“Kolkata Knight Riders have named Phil Salt as a replacement for Jason Roy after the latter pulled out of the upcoming TATA IPL 2024 owing to personal reasons. Having remained unsold in the auction after representing Delhi Capitals last year, this will be Salt’s second season in the IPL,” read the statement from IPL.

Phil Salt, who represented Delhi Capitals last season in the IPL, had gone unsold during the 2024 auction. The England wicket-keeper batter has been roped in by KKR for his reserve price of 1.5 crore rupees, according to the statement from IPL’s website.

“Bought at his reserve price of INR 1.5 crore, the aggressive wicket-keeper batter from England scored two consecutive T20I centuries against the West Indies in December last year. His 48-ball century in the 4th T20I at Trinidad is also the joint-fastest for England,” the statement added.

Jason Roy’s absence leaves a significant gap at the top of the KKR batting order. Roy, known for his explosive starts, was a crucial part of KKR’s batting plans. However, Salt’s arrival offers a promising alternative to the two-time IPL champions.

Phil Salt hit two T20I hundreds for England a day before and a day after the IPL 2024 auction, where he remained unsold. His form in T20Is might’ve prompted Kolkata Knight Riders to rope in him ahead of the upcoming season of the IPL.

Kolkata Knight Riders updated squad for IPL 2024

Shreyas Iyer (c), Nitish Rana, Rinku Singh, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Phil Salt, Sunil Narine, Suyash Sharma, Anukul Roy, Andre Russell, Venkatesh Iyer, Harshit Rana, Vaibhav Arora, Varun Chakaravarthy, KS Bharat, Chetan Sakariya, Mitchell Starc, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Ramandeep Singh, Sherfane Rutherford, Manish Pandey, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Dushmantha Chameera, Sakib Hussain

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