What to make of the Kohli–Salt combination in practice games?

Bharath Ramaraj at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru

With RCB playing an intra-squad game, it was time to take note of Phil Salt. The swashbuckling England opener was one of the cornerstones of RCB’s title triumph last year, having notched up 403 runs at an impressive strike-rate of 175.98 – an indicator of his prowess in maximising the Powerplay. However, in the just-concluded T20 World Cup, barring a fifty against Sri Lanka, Salt couldn’t find his rhythm.

So, it was time to zoom in on the opener. It turned out to be a rather curious innings from Salt, as he looked to farm the strike with a few singles. On most occasions, he wasn’t attempting those on-the-up shots. Perhaps, in a practice game, he wanted to regain his batting rhythm. Incidentally, in the first practice game, he had tried an on-the-up drive but was caught by the lone slip fielder.

Eventually, the big shot came, but once more it resulted in his dismissal. From a distance, Salt understandably looked upset, but that is how the game goes. When in form, his ultra-aggressive method pays rich dividends. However, that approach comes with a caveat: it can also lead to a run of low scores.

Mo Bobat, RCB’s Director of Cricket, backed Salt to make an impact in the 2026 IPL. “There’s enough depth of confidence there,” he said in the pre-season press conference. “He also really enjoys being with RCB. He enjoys his partnership with Kohli. He works very well with the likes of Andy (Flower) and DK (Dinesh Karthik). So they’re doing some really good work right now, and I’m pretty sure we’ll see Phil doing his thing at the start of the season.”

The narrative with Virat Kohli, his opening partner, was a tad different. In fact, for a moment in the second game, it felt as though the duo had swapped roles, almost as if they were wearing masks of each other to confuse the onlookers. Kohli, well known for juxtaposing meaty blows with singles and twos, was intent on tonking almost every ball. There was one sumptuous loft down the ground, along with a couple of dropped catches.

Even in the opening encounter, he crunched three boundaries and a six in his brief innings before falling to Abhinandan Singh. Unlike with Salt, the leather ball seemed to consistently find the sweet spot of his bat. However, Kohli was also taking more risks than usual – most likely trying to get a better feel for the ball.

To summarise, one of RCB’s fulcrums seemed to be in fine touch but couldn’t convert that form into a substantial score in the practice matches. The other opener, meanwhile, appears to be building towards a significant innings.

For a moment, let’s also do some number-crunching on the opening combination. The pair added 565 runs together in last year’s IPL and recorded five fifty-plus stands. The numbers reinforce the idea that Salt and Kohli are the bedrock of their batting unit. Their camaraderie also seems to extend off the field, with Kohli offering throwdowns to Salt and sharing inputs on playing the pull shot.