IPL 2025: Virat Kohli-Phil Salt, another double trouble in the making?

The history of IPL is replete with some awesome opening partnerships – from Gautam Gambhir-Chris Lynn, Shane Watson-Faf du Plessis or David Warner-Jonny Bairstow. The way Virat Kohli and Phil Salt of Royal Challengers Bangalore made light of a chase of 175 in the IPL opener against defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders on Saturday, it has all the makings of blossoming into another one.

A 95-run partnership between the master batter and the brutal Salt in 8.3 overs upset all the Knights’ plans, including that of their double-pronged spin attack of Varun Chakravarthy and Sunil Narine. It promoted Sunil Raina, once called the ‘Mr IPL’, to say as TV pundit: “It was a trailer by Virat Kohli and Phil Salt. When this tournament finishes, they will be the most dangerous opening pair of IPL 2025. For me, they are the best openers in this edition of the league.”

The twin half-centuries by Kohli and Salt, which helped the underachieving RCB end their losing streak against the Knights, stood out for a number of reasons. While Kohli’s effort – coming as it is after all the spotlight he was accorded during the opening ceremony at the Eden earlier – is being lauded more for all the right reasons, the England opener was perhaps showing the KKR management what they missed by not retaining him.

There was little to choose in the strike rate between the two with Salt’s 56 coming at 180.65 and Kohli’s unbeaten 59 at 163.89. The latter, who had rediscovered his mojo in white ball cricket to lend a big hand in steering India to the ICC Champions Trophy triumph earlier month, seemed to be continuing from where he had left off in Dubai – albeit with a shift in gear in the T20 format. The way he swatted Australian left-arm quick Spencer Johnson for two of his sixes showed his game sense once again as he tried to make full use of the powerplay before the quality KKR spinners came on.

Ever since RCB touched down in Kolkata four days back, Viratmania had gripped the city like all his previous visits – be it in franchise colours or for India. Shah Rukh Khan, who anchored the opening gig, pointed out a nugget about the batter’s long reign in the IPL – Kohli is the only player to have turned out in all 18 editions of the league so far for a single team. Yes, you have heard it right as the likes of Mahendra Singh Dhoni had to take a two years’ break from Chennai Super Kings when they faced a ban (he had a rather forgettable stint with the now defunct Rising Pune Supergiant) while Rohit Sharma, synonymous with Mumbai Indians, had actually started his career with Deccan Chargers.

Right in the middle of his innings, a security breach saw an overzealous fan running onto the ground to hug Kohli and laid sprawling at his feet. He did not let the incident distract him from the job at hand and focused on finishing the game as the battle-hardened pro knew the virtues of a winning start in this league only too well. At 36 and having dismantled several of the batting peaks in his storied career, the IPL is the only trophy which is still missing in his cabinet.

Will this be the year? It’s presumptuous to say so, but Kohli has certainly made the right start!