Who is Salil Arora? Punjab’s 39-Ball Centurion Set for Big Payout in IPL Auction 2026

The ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) 2025-26 has given an opportunity to several young players to showcase their talent and skills. The tournament is also acting as an audition for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 auction, which is all set to take place on December 16 in Abu Dhabi.

One of the players that has caught the attention of many in the ongoing SMAT 2025-26 is the young keeper-batter, Salil Arora. Punjab, which is known for producing aggressive batters, has given yet another batter in Salil as he set the stage on fire in the T20 tournament.

In the game between Punjab and Jharkhand, Salil Arora slammed a 39-ball century and ended with the innings of 125 runs off 45 balls. He batted with a strike rate of around 278 and also hit nine boundaries and 11 sixes during his stay at the crease.

His innings came at a time when Punjab were struggling to get going and were left reeling at 62 for three inside eight overs. He took the onus to himself and then slammed Jharkhand bowlers all over the park, taking his team to a total of 235 for six, which at one moment, seemed impossible.

Who is Salil Arora?

Salil Arora is a young 23-year-old cricketer from Punjab and has played for India U19 cricket team as well. He is a wicketkeeper-batter, who bats in the middle overs and has been one of the exciting talents going around in the country currently.

He has played 6 T20s so far and has slammed 142 runs at an average of around 30 and strike rate of over 136. Salil has also featured in 9 FC games, hammering 458 games to go with one century.

Salil Arora has set himself a base price of Rs 30 lakh and with him being young, wicket-keeper and middle-order batter, he is expected to be on the radar of some of the best teams in IPL this auction. His skills guarantee him to be one of the buys to watch out for this auction.

More to follow…