English opener Phil Salt after being ingnored in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 auction on December 19, dazzled with consecutive century to power England to a stunning seven-wicket victory over West Indies in their fourth T20I.
Despite a base price of Rs 1.5 crore, IPL teams showed no interest in acquiring Salt. Unfazed by the IPL auction snub, Salt delivered a powerful hundred to beat West Indies by seven wickets in the 4th T20I of their five-match series.
Salt became the first English male batter to achieve a feat of notching back-to-back T20I tons. Prior to this, only South Africa's Rilee Rossouw had accomplished this in men's cricket before December 19.
Following Salt's century, England Cricket took to Twitter with a subtle jab at the Indian Premier League.
After the game, Salt refrained from commenting on the IPL. Instead, he focused on discussing the adjustments he had made for the series. Salt mentioned that scoring centuries had become a habit for him and expressed his enjoyment of his current form with the team.
"I am definitely enjoying it. It is a cool place to come and place cricket. The boys have come out and done well. Very satisfying. The tweaks that I have made to my game have been on the mental side. It is a habit to score tons," Salt said after the match.
Harry Brook, Salt's teammate and an explosive batsman who scored a quickfire 31* off just 7 balls in the 3rd T20I, was bought by Delhi Capitals for Rs 4 crore. During the IPL auction, head coach Ricky Ponting expressed his surprise at the bargain price for Brook, stating that he resolved many of their team's issues without requiring a higher investment.
“We filled all the gaps that we wanted and saved nearly 10 crore, so the owners are really happy about it. We probably got 90 per cent of exactly what we wanted. We've done a great job,” said Ponting.
Ponting further commented that Brook is among the world's most gifted cricketers, emphasising that the batter was the top priority for Delhi Capitals in the IPL 2024 auction.
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