RCB opener Phil Salt to miss IPL 2025 final against PBKS - Report

Phil Salt likely to miss IPL 2025 for RCB. (Photo: IPL)

The Royal Challengers Bengaluru's preparations for the big final appear to have met a major roadblock as they take on the Punjab Kings in an attempt to win their first Indian Premier League (IPL) championship.

Phil Salt, RCB's talismanic opening batsman, is reportedly unavailable to play in the championship match against the Punjab team because he is expecting a kid. On the eve of the final, Salt was absent from RCB's training session, which raised questions about whether he would be available for the summit match.

According to an ESPNCricinfo report, Salt may not even be in Ahmedabad for the game against PBKS because he is scheduled to be with his partner when their first kid is born. However, RCB captain Rajat Patidar and coach Andy Flower remained silent about the player's predicament, obviously wishing to keep everything under wraps before the crucial game.

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Flower has even earned a reputation as a strategic deceiver by forcing his wounded players to participate in warm-up exercises prior to the game to keep the opposition guessing.

It should be mentioned, though, that Salt wasn't the only RCB player to skip the practice session; a few others made the same decision. It's uncertain right now, but it's still possible that the wicket-keeper batter has already taken a plane home.

In 12 games this season, Salt has scored 387 runs for RCB with a strike-rate of 175.90 and an average of 35.18. The Englishman's significance to RCB's final intentions is evident from the statistics alone. If Salt is truly unavailable, the Bengaluru team is likely to have some difficulties resolving the opening issue because Jacob Bethell has already returned home for international duty.

Mayank Agarwal and Tim Siefert, who was signed as a replacement, are still the best choices for the opening role, along with Virat Kohli in case Salt is unavailable.