During a recent match between Delhi Capitals (DC) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at the IPL 2023, a heated exchange took place between England batter Phil Salt and Indian pacer Mohammed Siraj.
The altercation occurred during DC’s innings at the Arun Jaitley Stadium when Siraj directed some choice words towards Salt before the end of the opening powerplay. This resulted in a confrontation between the two players, with DC opener David Warner also getting involved to try and calm Siraj down.
Despite the incident, Salt remained focused on guiding his team to victory. He played an exceptional innings, hitting eight fours and six sixes on his way to a score of 87 off 45 balls. Salt’s brilliant performance helped DC secure a memorable 7-wicket win over RCB, and he was named ‘Player of the Match’ for his efforts.
If you back yourself to hit good balls & the best bowlers in opposition, then more than half the job is already done when chasing a par total. That's what Phil Salt did against Siraj. And what lead after these three balls only made Salt even more amped up.pic.twitter.com/bxTQkDhBvu
— Rahul Sharma (@CricFnatic) May 6, 2023
In the post-match press conference, Salt acknowledged the verbal exchange with Siraj but remained focused on the game. He stated that a lot of pre-match chat had been about “taking it to” RCB, and he felt that his team had done that successfully.
“I am very satisfied with the knock. Obviously, there was a little bit of a needle. Their boys were up for the last game when we were in Bangalore. So a lot of the pre-match chat was about really taking it to them, which I felt that we did really well. There were a few words and a bit of needle, but most blokes were up for it, certainly myself,” said Salt the post-match press conference.
Salt also noted that when a batsman takes on a side’s best bowler and wins, it sends a message of calm and can motivate other players to perform better.
“I feel like if you take on a side’s best bowler a lot of the times and you win that particular battle, whether it’s the first over or any over that he bowls, the message that it sends back into the dugout is one of calm,” he added.
“When that happens and you do it successfully, you see guys come out the way Mitch [Mitchell Marsh] did. Hit his second ball for six. You see Rilee [Rossouw] come out and bat like he’d already faced 30 balls. A sort of a method behind it.”
