Why Phil Salt Was Dropped by RCB vs GT? Virat Kohli’s New Opening Partner Revealed

In the RCB vs GT IPL 2026 match, the home team has left out their star opener Phil Salt for the important clash against Gujarat Titans at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru. Salt, who has been a key part of the team's success over the last two years, is not playing this match.

RCB skipper Rajat Patidar announced at the toss that Salt has picked up an injury ahead of the seventh match of the season, which is why he is not playing this particular game.

Why Phil Salt is Not Playing Today?

As mentioned above, Phil Salt's injury has forced RCB to make a change at the top of their batting order. The right-hander is in terrific form this season with both bat and on the field. He has proved to be amongst the most dangerous batsmen in IPL ever since he has started playing the league.

Salt's England teammate Jacob Bethell has been given a chance to play for the franchise. Bethell, who is rated quite highly amongst the English cricketing circles, can be a perfect Phil Salt replacement for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru.

Phil Salt has scored 202 runs in six matches of IPL 2026 at a blistering strike rate of 168.33. His partnership at the top with Virat Kohli, the batter with most runs in IPL, has been key to RCB's success. Both Salt and Kohli complement each other brilliantly, making RCB a dangerous team for the opposition.

Who Will Open With Virat Kohli for RCB?

While Phil Salt's absence might hurt RCB, there is still some excitement around the arrival of Jacob Bethell into the Playing 11. Bethell has been added in the Impact Players list during the toss but is likely to make his way into the playing 11 for RCB vs GT match when the team comes out to bat.

He is likely to be Virat Kohli opening partner in Salt's absence. It will be a massive opportunity for the youngster to stake his claim in this strong team. He will be aiming to carry his form from the T20 World Cup 2026, where he showed why he is among the best T20 batsmen going around.

During the ICC T20 World Cup, Bethell impressed all with his consistency and the ability to change the course of the game on his own. He smashed a memorable 105 runs off just 48 balls during the semi-final against India, a knock which will be talked about for several years to come. The left-hander struck 8 fours and 7 sixes during this knock, which was a testament of his ability at such a young age.