Phil Salt played for Delhi Capitals in IPL 2023. Kolkata Knight Riders bought Salt at his base price of Rs 1.5 crore.
Kolkata: Two-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders have named hard-hitting Phil Salt as a replacement for Jason Roy for the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL), which is set to start later this month. According to an IPL media release, Roy pulled out of IPL 2024 due to personal commitments. Notably, Salt, who played for Delhi Capitals in IPL 2023, went unsold in the auction last December in Dubai. KKR bought the aggressive wicket-keeper batter for his base price at Rs 1.5 crore.
Recently, in the T20I series against West Indies last year in December, Salt scored two consecutive centuries. His 48-ball century in the fourth T20I at Trinidad is also the joint-fastest for England. The right-hander has a stellar record in T20s. With 5308 runs from 221 innings at a strike rate of 153.41 and an average of 25.89, Salt has played all around the world including in Big Bash League, Caribbean Premier League, Pakistan Super League, and in leagues in Sri Lanka, the UAE and South Africa.
Earlier, KKR had named Dushmantha Chameera as replacement for Gus Atkinson. Chameera will join KKR at a reserve price of Rs 50 Lakh. The Sri Lankan speedster, who is known for his pace, and can trouble the batters with his swing and seam movements, was a part of Rajasthan Royals and Royal Challengers Bangalore in the 2018 and 2021 IPL seasons, respectively. He represented Lucknow Super Giants in the 2022 season, where he picked up nine wickets from 12 matches.
Meanwhile, it will be a homecoming for former captain Gautam Gambhir at KKR. Gambhir, who played for KKR from 2011 to 2017, also led the franchise to two IPL titles in 2012 and 2014. During his time as KKR captain, Gambhir also led the franchise to five playoffs, and reached the finals of the Champions League T20 in 2014.
Earlier, during the auction last year, KKR made the headlines as they shelled out Rs 24.75 crores to make Australian Mitchell Starc the most expensive buy in the history of the tournament. They also bought the likes of Afghan spin duo of Mohammad Nabi and Mujeeb Ur Rahman.
Players Bought By KKR At IPL 2024 Auction: KS Bharat (Rs 50 lakhs), Chetan Sakariya (Rs 50 lakhs), Mitchell Starc (Rs 24.75 crores), Angkrish Raghuvanshi (Rs 20 lakhs), Ramandeep Singh (Rs 20 lakhs), Sherfane Rutherford (Rs 1.5 crores), Manish Pandey (Rs 50 lakhs), Mujeeb Ur Rahman (Rs 2 crores), Sakib Hussain (Rs 20 lakhs).
Wicketkeepers: KS Bharat, Rahmanullah Gurbaz
Batters: Shreyas Iyer, Phil Salt, Rinku Singh, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Sherfane Rutherford, Manish Pandey.
All-Rounders: Andre Russell, Nitish Rana, Venkatesh Iyer, Anukul Roy, Ramandeep Singh.
Bowlers: Varun Chakravarthy, Sunil Narine, Vaibhav Arora, Chetan Sakariya, Harshit Rana, Suyash Sharma, Mitchell Starc, Dusmantha Chameera, Sakib Hussain, Mujeeb Ur Rahman.
