Why did Phil Salt miss DC vs RCB clash of IPL 2026?
(Courtesy : BCCI/IPL)
Phil Salt was also absent from RCB’s previous game against GT in IPL 2026.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) are clashing with Delhi Capitals (DC) at Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi. The 39th match of the Indian Premier League 2026 is taking place on Monday, April 27.
Axar Patel & Co. suffered a horrible defeat against the Punjab Kings in their previous game, failing to defend their gigantic 264-run total. However, they outplayed RCB by six wickets in the previous clash between both sides at Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
In Match 39 of IPL 2026, RCB won the toss and opted to bowl first. Notably, opening batter Phil Salt is not part of RCB’s playing XI once again. This is the second consecutive game that Salt has missed. Fans are a bit confused as to why he is not being played at the top alongside Kohli in tonight’s match.
Why is Phil Salt not playing the DC vs RCB clash of IPL 2026?
Notably, Phil Salt is yet to recover from his injury, which he sustained while batting in the net sessions. In the pre-match press conference on Sunday, RCB batting coach and mentor Dinesh Karthik informed that the England batter has not recovered from his injury and will miss the clash against the Delhi Capitals.
Salt also missed the previous game against the Gujarat Titans, which RCB won by five wickets. At the toss, Patidar revealed that Salt missed out due to injury, and Jacob Bethell picked in his absence.
“I just feel this will be a bowl-first pitch. And as you all know, chasing gives us a lot of clarity about the result, the score and the total. One change – Salty got injured, Bethell is in. I think one great point that I like is that we are assessing the wicket and assessing the situation pretty well this year,” he had said at toss.
Salt has provided quickfire starts in a few games, and his aggressive batting style has helped RCB to dominate opponents. His England teammate Bethell has been retained as an opener once again in tonight’s game against Delhi.
Meanwhile, Salt has featured in six encounters in IPL 2026. He has scored two half-centuries, one of which was against the Capitals in the previous match. With 202 runs in six games at a strike rate of 168.33, he has done a decent job for RCB so far.
Is Phil Salt part of the DC vs RCB match?
No, Salt is not part of the DC vs RCB match. He is recovering from an injury.
Who are RCB’s openers in the clash against DC?
Virat Kohli and Jacob Bethell are the openers for RCB in the clash against DC.
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Vikas Singh Derek is a core cricket-lover since childhood and has always followed the sport both in his personal and professional life. He started his school life by watching cricket at home with family. Later, he played cricket on the field at local clubs during college. After his Master's in Journalism from Mumbai, he followed his passion by covering cricket news across various digital media. Since 2015, he has been an aspiring sports journalist and cricket content writer with over 50K+ articles.