- Dec 2, 2024
- Oct 17, 2022
On December 16, Philip Salt smashed his maiden T20I hundred to help England win the third match against West Indies in Grenada. His match-winning knock while chasing 223 came days before the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 mini-auction. However, that was not enough for the opening batter to find a bidder at the auction. Despite the base price being set at INR 1.5 crore, no franchise picked him up for the IPL 2024 season.
In what could be called a fitting reply to the omission, he scored a scintillating century in the fourth T20I and helped his team level the series against the Windies. Salt became the first English batter to smash two T20I centuries in a row. Notably, only South Africa’s Rilee Rossouw achieved this feat in men’s cricket before December 19.
After being asked to first, England posted a humongous total of 267-3 in 20 overs. Apart from Salt’s 119 off 57 deliveries, captain Jos Buttler (55 off 29) and Liam Livingstone (54 off 21) also displayed their ruthless batting at the Brian Lara Stadium in Trinidad on Tuesday. In reply, despite a poor start, Nicholas Pooran (39 off 15) and Sherfane Rutherford (36 off 15) kept their run rate in check.
Veteran all-rounder Andre Russell tried to pull off a miracle but his half-century went in vain as no other West Indies batter did not rise to the occasion, resulting in England winning by 75 runs. Speaking after the match, the right-hander did not comment on not being unsold in the IPL auction. Instead, he talked about enjoying 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. I think after the first few overs, they bowled well. It evened out after the ball got older. Me and Jos realized that we could put them under pressure. They are a very good side. You never know what Dre Russ can do,” Salt said.
Impressive performance by him. The Rise of an Exciting Cricketer. He will have his chance.
— Nirmal Roy (@nroy11) December 20, 2023
Unlucky player 🥺
— Abhay Upadhyay (@AbhayOse) December 20, 2023
A tight slap to ipl team owner and selector
— CricketWala (@CricketWala786) December 20, 2023
But you need to perform in India if you want to sold in Auction
— Mintu Dutta (@MNGamin65372627) December 20, 2023
Phil Salt will play psl.
So they don't want to disrupt.Sab IPL khelenge toh PSL me kon Imran Khan khelega??
— Being Indian 🇮🇳 (@SunilSa02606284) December 20, 2023
Base price pe koi kharid hi sakta tha
— Abhinav singh (@Abhinav_tmk) December 20, 2023
https://twitter.com/zaravibes303/status/1737295658045042870
Dil pe le gya 🥰🥰🥰😂😂🤣🤣
— Rajat singh (Adv) (@rajat9565) December 20, 2023