Image Credit- BCCI
The 2019 CPL final is one of cricket fan Phil Salt’s favourite matches. He made a duck.
With one hand tracking the delivery’s route and the other serving as his elbow—which the ball struck before inflating up in the air and leading to his dismissal—he asked, “Did you see that?”
He shook his head, remembering everything, but his face was beaming. Take a weeklong vacation in Miami. Take a trip to the Caribbean and engage in some T20 cricket. Become the victor. There are worse lifestyle choices.
Although he is an opening batter, Salt’s qualities and abilities go well beyond that. His success rate is quite near. With 166 balls faced, it ranks third among players who represent Full-Member nations in T20I cricket. He takes risks on a professional basis. He has a one in two chance of hitting the fence to begin the inning.
“I suppose it’s about taking the bowlers off their natural lines and lengths,” Salt said. “It’s all about me imposing myself on the game and doing what I want to do and taking them [the bowlers] off what they want to do. Ultimately, if I can hit the first over for more than ten, I’m putting someone under pressure big time. And if they come back, and I can take them on again and again, it’s ruining their day and they’ve got to their weaker option. It’s just about your skill vs their skill, one ball at a time. That’s about as complicated as it gets really.”
His career, even at domestic level, began after the 2015 World Cup. By then, England had become suspicious of the very concept of caution. Salt “spoke to Eoin Morgan, who was captain at the time, and he said there is only one way to play if you’re going to play for us and it’s not for yourself. It’s for the team. So from that moment onwards everything was sort of lined up to play for the team and that’s where I had success. And that’s what I will keep doing.”
Salt refused to let failure define him. He is aware that taking chances is an essential aspect of his work and that not all of them will pay off. He added, “You have to learn how to manage that and stay level,” and gave a suggestion as to how he manages it. “Hopefully you can win a few games for your side.” That’s the standard by which he evaluates himself. Not fifty-runs, not runs, not hundreds. He has the ability to be extremely dangerous every time he takes the pitch because of this.
As a result of their wager, KKR and Sunil Narine produced the fastest first-wicket partnership in IPL 2024, scoring 12.83 runs per over.
For the moment, Salt’s eyes are trained on the IPL. Soon it will shift. In June, he will likely be part of the England side headed to the Caribbean to defend their T20 crown. His career is proof that batting for a good time, not a long time, can bring success too.