CHENNAI: Explosive opening batter Phil Salt is pleased to contribute to his team Royal Challengers Bengaluru's victory over Chennai Super Kings. Salt insists that clarity of mind and awareness of his role in the team has helped him in his explosive starts.
What also helped the visitors to beat CSK was proper reading of the wicket. They knew the pitch would be on the slower side and they will have to make the most of it up front in the powerplay. "Yeah, when you come to Chennai, you normally expect something on the slower side. I think that's actually what we ended up getting. As the game went on, it got a little bit more two-paced and a little bit harder to go across. It spun a little bit, but not as much as one expected. So it's good to come away with a win," said Salt.
Salt has opened up about his partnership with Virat Kohli and also revealed about his role in the team. Drafted into the squad as a probable replacement for Faf du Plessis, he has come out with flying colours. During their win over CSK at Chepauk on Friday, the duo (Salt and Kohli) added 45 runs in just five overs setting a strong foundation.
Despite Kohli struggling to accelerate early on, Salt took charge and played his role to perfection. "Yeah, that's definitely part of it. It's been made very clear to me why I'm here at RCB and what they were looking for in the auction to partner with Virat. The dynamics of the partnership. I'm very aware of.
"It's to be aggressive and to sort of take the pressure off the rest of the guys. Especially when you come somewhere like here. If you don't take advantage of those early seam overs, then you can be left up against it when the spin comes on, and they can really take control of the game. Yeah, it was very key here and that was spoken about," said Salt.
Mystery spinner Noor Ahmad is difficult to play for most batters as he quicker that most spinners and can turn the ball both ways. ''It varies (playing mystery spinners) I'd say. I think Noor's a little trickier than most left-armers, I'd say, but you're very aware that his googly is his danger ball. That's the one that's going to go across you. I think you've got to have good game plans with these guys.
"Mine was to be across the stumps and to try and nullify the leg spinner and then hope I get more googlies. Everybody's got different ways of going about it and I think picking the ball out of the hand is just one of those things that happens with time," explained Salt.