Who Will Replace Phil Salt In Today’s Must-Win Game Against Sunrisers Hyderabad?

After an incredible performance in the initial stage of the 17th edition of Tata Indian Premier League, the England destructive batter Phil Salt has returned to his country for national duties, leaving the Koklata Knight Riders franchise with 20 points on the table by winning 9 games out of 14 where 2 were of no result. Today, Kolkata Knight Riders will be taking on Sunrisers Hyderabad in Qualifier 1 at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad and the most asked question will be who will be seen opening the innings for the Kolkata-based franchise in place of Phil Salt with Sunil Narine.

Phil Salt has given a solid start to the 2012 tilt winners by scoring a lot of runs in first 6 overs with former Caribbean all-rounder Sunil Narine, which has helped the upcoming batters to score runs. But after returning the concern for Shahrukh Khan’s led franchise would be who will be replacing the English batter as they have got 2 probable batters who can open the innings with Sunil Narine.

Venkatesh Iyer and Rahmanullah Gurabz are the two players from which one can be seen opening the innings for Kolkata Knight Riders in the game against Sunrisers Hyderabad. Talking about Gurbaz, he hasn't played any match so far in the ongoing Tata IPL 2024 for Kolkata Knight Riders as till the time Phil Salt was there in the playing 11, but after his departure to home, he can be seen opening the innings with Sunil Narine. 

Rahmanullah Gurbaz was picked up by the Kolkata Knight Riders franchise in 2023 mega-auction at a base price of 50 Lakhs. In the year, 2023, he made his debut for the franchise and scored back-to-back fifties for the Knight Riders. The Afghan finished the tournament with 227 runs in 11 matches. He became the first Afghan to score a fifty in the IPL when he made 57 off 44 balls against Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Another option for KKR would be off Venkatesh Iyer, who can play as an opening batter in this game with Sunil Narine as he has previously done for the Kolkata-based franchise in the past. However, KKR would not be disturbing the left-handed batter's place in the must-win as he is in great form scoring, 267 runs in 13 games with an average of 44, having one half-century to his name. So, KKR would be going with a batter who has a high strike rate.

It will be interesting to see which team will be heading towards the final of IPL 2024 and which team will get another chance to bounce back in Qualifier 2 of the IPL 2024.