Former Indian Test opener Aakash Chopra believes the opening duo of Royal Challengers Bengaluru – Virat Kohli and Phil Salt – will make a potent alliance at the top of the order for the franchise. Salt was bagged for INR 11.50 crore by RCB in the IPL 2025 mega auction.
Salt scored 435 runs in 12 matches of IPL 2024 at an average of 39.55 and a strike rate of 182 and thus played an instrumental role in taking KKR to glory.
On the other hand, RCB had retained Virat Kohli for INR 21 crore and he is expected to lead the franchise in the next season.
“In batting, Phil Salt with Virat Kohli. It is a beautiful combination. Many other combinations could have been there. It could have been Virat Kohli-Jos Buttler, Virat Kohli-Ishan Kishan, Virat Kohli-KL Rahul, Virat Kohli-Jake Farser-McGurk and even Virat Kohli-Rishabh Pant. However, they said they didn’t want any of them but wanted Phil Salt,” Aakash Chopra said on his YouTube Channel.
Chopra expects Salt to deliver the goods for RCB on the flat Chinnaswamy pitch in the upcoming season.
“Considering the way Phil Salt performed last year, and the Bengaluru pitch is as flat as Kolkata, it will suit him, and he will hit a lot. We will get to see Phil Salt’s assault. He can hit many balls into Cubbon Park. He has not only destroyed in the IPL but has been consistently destroying even after that,” he reasoned.
On the other hand, the renowned commentator feels RCB has assembled a potent new ball attack after acquiring the services of Josh Hazlewood and Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
“The first thing they tried to do was to upgrade their bowling. They let Mohammed Siraj go but signed Josh Hazlewood. This team signed Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Yash Dayal was already with this team. So the new-ball attack has become thumbs up with both hands,” Chopra said.
Chopra reckons Rasikh Dar’s signing is a good deal by RCB as the medium pacer from Jammu and Kashmir can bowl in the death overs.
“Since too many wickets do not fall at this ground (Chinnaswamy Stadium) in the powerplay, if you are able to pick up more than one wicket in the powerplay overs, you take a step forward. Josh Hazlewood, Yash Dayal, Bhuvneshwar Kumar – you have got three good new-ball bowlers, and they have signed Rasikh Salam Dar for ₹6 crore. They have kept him for death bowling as well,” Chopra observed.
RCB squad after IPL 2025 mega auction:
Batters: Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, Devdutt Padikkal, Swastik Chhikara.
Wicketkeepers: Phil Salt, Jitesh Sharma.
All-rounders: Liam Livingstone, Krunal Pandya, Swapnil Singh, Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Manoj Bhandage, Jacob Bethell.
Fast bowlers: Josh Hazlewood, Rasikh Dar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Nuwan Thushara, Yash Dayal, Lungi Ngidi, Abhinandan Singh.
Spinners: Suyash Sharma, Mohit Rathee.
