Connection with Kohli clicked right from day one in RCB camp: Phil Salt
New Delhi, Dec 8 (LatestNewsX) – England’s opening batsman Phil Salt said his partnership with Virat Kohli clicked right from their first practice at the Royal Challengers Bengaluru camp for IPL 2025, and he was happy to see how that chemistry developed, especially the clear plan about who would handle the scoring.
Salt and Kohli gave RCB a number of solid starts in the powerplay, a key factor in the team’s triumph in IPL 2025. “It’s always important to have a strong relationship with whoever you’re opening with. You need to understand how they play, and they need to understand your game too, so that you can bring the best out of each other,” he explained.
“We started building that connection from the moment we both arrived here, and I’m really pleased with how it’s developing. It’s very much a conversation that happens out in the middle, and sometimes it doesn’t even need words. You can just sense how the other guy is playing. In Jaipur, for example, there wasn’t much chat at all, it was just obvious that whenever Virat got on strike, he was happy to rotate it to me.”
He added that in other matches, like the one in Delhi, both of them could have taken the lead, but it worked out with Salt taking charge at the start of the third over. “Sometimes you talk it through, and sometimes it happens completely organically. It’s a moving picture,” he reflected on a recent RCB podcast episode released Monday.
When asked what his first thought was after being bought by RCB at the IPL 2025 auction, Salt, who won the title in 2024 with Kolkata Knight Riders, said, “My first thought was that this is a team I would really suit playing for. The way RCB have always carried themselves, the brand of cricket they play, it all appealed to me.”
“From my very first conversation with Mo after the auction, I could clearly see why they wanted me and what role they had in mind for me. Everything felt very aligned with my game.”
Salt has been a linchpin of England’s T20I side and spoke about keeping high standards and a sharp strike rate at the front. “Cricket now demands a far more attacking style of play. Does that make it the most consistent approach? Probably not.”
“There was a time when a batter could think about pushing for the orange cap, but that mindset doesn’t really work in the IPL anymore. For me, and for most of our batting group, it’s not about individual awards. Everything is centered around how we win as a team, and that, for me, is the most important thing in the IPL.”
“For me, it’s all about working day by day and being completely process‑driven. I focus first on the small things; getting into the gym, keeping my body right, making the right decisions physically. Then comes the cricket side of it. When I focus too much on big goals and outcomes, I lose clarity. I learned that the hard way when I was younger. Now everything for me is about small steps and daily progress, not being obsessed with results,” he concluded.
nr/bc
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