‘There were a few words and a bit of needle’ – Phil Salt opens up on his heated argument with Mohammed Siraj in DC vs RCB clash

On Saturday, the Delhi Capitals dominated the Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Arun Jaitley Stadium. DC won by 7 wickets, thanks to a stunning half-century from Phil Salt. This was their fourth victory of the season, and they moved up to ninth place in the standings.

Mohammed Siraj has been brilliant with the new ball this season, but he was taken apart by Salt in the fifth over of the run chase. Following a heated exchange with Siraj, who was pointing fingers at the English opener after bowling a bouncer, Salt emerged as the uncontested winner.

A lot of our pre-match talk was about really taking it to them: Phil Salt

Salt hit a couple of sixes and a four in the 19-run over, and Siraj was not given another over. Salt’s stunning 87 off 45 in his debut IPL season set up a resounding victory for the hosts. He explained that his conversation with Siraj was influenced by the intensity of their away encounter against RCB at Chinnaswamy Stadium.

“I am very satisfied with the knock. Obviously, there was a little bit of needle. A lot of our pre-match talk was about really taking it to them, which I felt we did really well. There were a few words and a bit of needle. It spurs on most blokes to be honest, certainly myself,” said the England keeper-batter.

Salt made a deliberate decision to attack Siraj because rattling the opposition’s greatest bowler keeps the team calm. “If you take on a side’s best bowler and win that particular battle, the message it sends back to the dug-out is one of calm. When that happens, you see guys come out confidently. You saw Marsh hit his second ball for six and Rossouw come out to bat as if he has already faced 30 balls. So that is the method behind it,” he said.