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When the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) announced Phil Salt as their replacement for Jason Roy, many experts applauded this move from the franchise.
With Jason Roy opting out of IPL 2024 citing personal reasons, KKR desperately needed an aggressive overseas option in the top order, and they decided to go with English wicketkeeper Phil Salt. The English wicketkeeper-batter has been picked up at a reserve price of INR 1.5 crore.
In this article, we will discuss how this acquisition from KKR is a great move for the franchise. Here are three reasons why it is so:
#3 Another wicketkeeping option
KKR had Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Srikar Bharat as wicket-keeping options in their ranks after the auction. But this was one of the issues they needed to address in their playing XI.
Bharat can at best be the anchor in a T20 side, while Gurbaz's consistency and problems against high ceiling pace were not inspiring any confidence.
Any injury to one of them means KKR would get reduced to only one quality wicketkeeping option.
Acquiring Phil Salt means KKR now have one more option behind the stumps and can play either of the three according to the conditions in the tournament.
#2 KKR desperately need an aggressive opener
If we look at KKR's numbers in the powerplay since the 2022 mega auction, then one perennial problem they have been facing is slow approach in that phase with SR of 121.83: just above Lucknow Super Giants (120.19) and SunRisers Hyderabad (117.24).
They tried out as many as 12 different opening combinations, but nothing worked for them in this period.
Phil Salt could be their answer in this phase, as he has scored 1332 runs in this same period, with the second-best SR overall of 157.48, only behind his English opening partner Will Jacks (SR: 162.87).
#1 Phil Salt plays both pace and spin well
It's very rare that an English player possesses a very good spin game. Salt is one of those rare commodities who not only plays pace well (SR: 155.86) but also has the ability to negate the spin threat with equal measures (SR: 144.34).
KKR might opt for spin tracks this season to play the trioka of Varun Chakravarthy, Sunil Narine and Suyash Sharma to strangle teams with spin. It's become crucial for their batting line-up too to be able to bat on those tracks to support their bowling unit.
Salt at the top might take on both bowling types to set the tone for the upcoming batters.
