December 19 was an eventful day in two parts of the world. Two players fetched more than INR 20 crore in the IPL Auction in Dubai, making history twice. A few hours later, England opener Phil Salt smashed ten sixes on his route to his second consecutive T20I century in Trinidad. But, according to Salt, December 19 was equally perplexing because he unexpectedly went unsold in the auction.
“It was a perplexing morning.” “I expected to be picked up after going there last year and doing well, and after the year that I’ve had, but these things happen,” Salt said after England’s series-leveling win over West Indies.
Salt was chosen by the Delhi Capitals in previous year’s auction for his basic price of INR 2 Crore. He appeared in 9 games and scored 218 runs with an eye-catching strike rate of 163.91. The wicketkeeper-batter was later released and entered this year’s auction with a starting bid of INR 1.50 crore but was passed over. There wasn’t a lot of interest in overseas keeper-batters, and the three that were chosen – Tristan Stubbs, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, and Shai Hope – settled for lower starting salaries of INR 50 Lakh, 40 Lakh, and 75 Lakh, respectively. At the top of the order, Salt has superior numbers in the format, but the auction dynamics were such that teams just did not lift the baton for him.
“It’s part of an auction’s lottery, and it happens in draft processes as well.” “There’s a few lads in our dressing room who are going to have a very good Christmas, and I’m overjoyed for them,” Salt remarked as teammates Harry Brook, Chris Woakes, and Gus Atkinson found bidders during the auction. “I was perplexed, but it can happen.” There are no bad cricketers on the IPL roster. “It’s one of those things,” he continued.
Salt’s fate as a player in next year’s IPL was already set by the time he took guard at the Brian Lara stadium. He answered with a whirlwind knock of 119 off 57 balls, admitting that the change of events certainly had a role in him pulling off such a great score.
“It was probably some of it, subconsciously.” I’m conscious of how fortunate I am to be here playing cricket. I’m doing what I came here to do: I’m playing good cricket. More importantly, the boys have really pulled together and demonstrated what a great team we are. “We’re playing against a very good side in the West Indies, so to win back-to-back games and force the decider in a couple of days’ time, I’m chuffed,” he said.
Salt hit 19 sixes in his back-to-back hundreds in the West Indies, 9 in the third T20I and 10 in the fourth. He claimed to working primarily on his six-hitting abilities on the off-side.
“I’ve concentrated on hitting sixes over the off-side. I’ve always been adept at going over the leg-side and hitting the sight screen. When Jason Holder pushed the pace off wide and I hit it over the offside, Jos said to me, ‘teams can’t bowl to you’. “That’s something I’ve been working on for a long time, so it’s nice to see it’s paying off,” he said.
