At the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) event at Chinnaswamy Stadium, there was a funny moment between Virat Kohli and Phil Salt.
Salt, the English wicketkeeper-batter and RCB’s new player, accidentally hit Kohli in the head with a ball while they were throwing souvenirs to the crowd. Kohli took a moment to figure out who did it, but once he realized it was Salt, he playfully chased him with a smile.
We sense the banter between Virat and Salt is only going to get better as the season goes on! 😁#PlayBold #ನಮ್ಮRCB #RCBUnbox pic.twitter.com/YhcV3U15lL
— Royal Challengers Bengaluru (@RCBTweets) March 17, 2025
It was all in good fun, though. Kohli hugged Salt, they joked around, and then Kohli continued walking around the field with his teammates. The RCB cameras didn’t catch the whole thing, but they did get Kohli’s reaction after getting hit and Salt’s failed attempt to get away.
I just saw Virat, Salt said in a video. And honestly, I hit him right in the side of the head. He looked around trying to find who it was, and then he looked at me and got serious. I didn’t stay around! I tried to escape, but he caught me right away. If there’s a video of that, it’ll be hilarious.
It’s a great sign for RCB that their likely opening batsmen are getting along so well. Kohli has been with RCB for his entire career and has played with lots of top-order batsmen through the years.
RCB signed Salt for a lot of money, Rs. 11.50 crore, at the IPL 2025 auction. He was one of the best opening batsmen last season and helped the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).
But, his performance has been up and down lately. RCB is hoping he can use the practice games before the season starts to get back in shape. Their first game is against the defending champions on March 22.