IPL 2025: Will Phil Salt overcome poor final run to power RCB to gold?

Ahmedabad (Gujarat) [India], June 3 (ANI): Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) opener Phil Salt will be playing the biggest final of his franchise cricket career when his side takes on Punjab Kings (PBKS) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Tuesday.

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RCB and PBKS will play in the IPL 2025 final at the Narendra Modi Stadium here on Tuesday. They will seek to end their title drought in the competition. For this, they will need Salt to fire all the cylinders in the powerplay, no matter whether they bat first or second.

However, Salt's record in the tournament finals is extremely disappointing. He scored just 107 runs in eight innings at an average of 13.37 and a strike rate of 148.61. His best score is 26. He has crossed the 20-run mark only twice in the finals.

Salt has played finals for various teams, including Sussex (in Vitality Blast 2018), England (T20 World Cup 2022), Barbados Tridents (Caribbean Premier League 2019), Lancashire (Vitality Blast 2022), Manchester Originals (The Hundred 2022), Pretoria Capitals (SA20 2023), and Manchester Originals (The Hundred 2023).

However, Salt has been in rock-solid form for RCB this season, with 387 runs in 12 innings at an average of 35.18, a strike rate of 175.90, and four half-centuries. His best score is 65. During Qualifier one, he hit a match-winning fifty against PBKS.

Squads:

Royal Challengers Bengaluru Squad: Philip Salt, Virat Kohli, Mayank Agarawal, Rajat Patidar(c), Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma(w), Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yash Dayal, Josh Hazlewood, Suyash Sharma, Rasikh Dar Salam, Manoj Bhandage, Tim Seifert, Swapnil Singh, Tim David, Blessing Muzarabani, Nuwan Thushara, Mohit Rathee, Swastik Chikara, Abhinandan Singh

Punjab Kings Squad: Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh, Josh Inglis(w), Shreyas Iyer(c), Nehal Wadhera, Shashank Singh, Marcus Stoinis, Azmatullah Omarzai, Kyle Jamieson, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal, Harpreet Brar, Suryansh Shedge, Praveen Dubey, Xavier Bartlett, Vishnu Vinod, Yash Thakur, Aaron Hardie, Kuldeep Sen, Mitchell Owen, Harnoor Singh, Musheer Khan, Pyla Avinash. (ANI)

(The story has come from a syndicated feed and has not been edited by the Tribune Staff.)