RCB opener Phil Salt is likely to return for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru ahead of their upcoming final group-stage clash against the Sunrisers Hyderabad. He is likely to return ahead of the IPL playoffs.
Phil Salt was absent from IPL 2026 after having started the season initially for the Challengers. Salt had played six games in the season before the English star had to return home following a finger injury.
Salt scored 202 runs across those six games and also scored two half-centuries in the competition. He has not featured for the defending champions since then and hence decided to spend some time with his young family back home while continuing with his rehabilitation.
Phil Salt to return to India ahead of clash against SRH
As per ESPNcricinfo reports, Phil Salt is likely to return to India this week after a month-long rehabilitation from the IPL due to an injury to his little finger. Bengaluru have made its way into the playoffs and has sealed a spot, most likely in the top two.
RCB sealed the playoff spot with a win in the previous match against the Punjab Kings in their 13th match of the season. Venkatesh Iyer played a very promising innings in the last game, where he replaced the skipper, Rajat Patidar.
While Phil Salt was likely to return for the Royal Challengers ahead of the IPL playoffs, he is likely to return a bit early and might also be seen in RCB's final league match against the Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Jacob Bethell is likely to lose his spot irrespective of the presence or absence of Phil Salt
RCB have qualified for the playoffs, and if they can win the final game of the season, then they can be an epitome at the top of the order. The defending champions are likely to reach Qualifier 1, which is likely to be played in Dharamshala.
Even if Salt does not return for the RCB for their final league stage game, Jacob Bethell is likely to lose his spot to the Indian star batter Venkatesh Iyer. The left-hander played just a handful of games this season and scored a spectacular knock of 73 runs.
Bethell has amassed 96 runs across 7 innings in IPL 2026, while Iyer has more runs to his name despite playing half the number of innings this season.
Rajat Patidar to make a comeback following his concussion injury
Rajat Patidar, the skipper of the Royal Challengers Bengaluru side, has led by example while also playing some promising knocks with the bat. He has been one of the serial six-hitters this season, while Jitesh Sharma has struggled with the bat.
After Patidar was ruled out from the last game and did not travel to Dharamshala for the match against the Punjab Kings due to a concussion-level injury, after being struck on the helmet by a sharp bouncer from KKR kingpin Kartik Tyagi.
However, Jitesh informed that Patidar is doing well as of now and will feature in the final league-stage clash against the Sunrisers Hyderabad.
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