England keeper-batter Phil Salt heaped praise on Gautam Gambhir, the current India head coach who played a key role in Kolkata Knight Riders' IPL 2024 triumph earlier this year. KKR not only topped the points table but was also the first team to qualify for the final and defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad to win the title.
This was KKR’s third IPL title and first since their win in 2014. Salt played an important role in KKR's trophy-winning season and praised Gambhir's advice, claiming that the former left-handed batter was vital in assisting him in adapting to the difficult subcontinental circumstances.
Salt, who began for the KKR this season, credited then-mentor Gambhir with valuable guidance that improved his play in Indian conditions. Salt also described Gambhir in one word and called him a ‘competitor’.
Phil Salt was speaking at the CEAT International Cricket Awards, where he received the T20I batter of the Year award.
"Brilliant experience… doesn't get any better, coming in and winning the IPL first and foremost. I think GG (Gambhir) is no stranger to Indian cricket fans and cricket fans around the world. His playing record speaks for itself and what I found as a player… just listening to him in his sort of mentoring role.
What a competitor. I could relate to him from that point of view. He's always looking for the one percent that's going to get the individual to be better and what's going to get the team over the line. So I loved working for him. One word would be a competitor,” Salt said during the CEAT Cricketing Rating Awards.
Salt claimed that Gambhir was quite explicit about his expectations for the England batter, outlining a detailed game plan for him to follow throughout the season.
"I think the main bit of advice that I took from GG was to take the game deep, especially here in India. You know, from the moment I got off the first training session, he sat me down, he said, I know you're going to score runs for us, but I want you to score the majority of your runs between overs ten and 20, he said at Eden Gardens," Salt said.
"Even if you know it can be a little bit slow to start with, I want you to hang in there and make sure you're there from overs ten onwards and get the big overs because you can score so quickly, and I think you know of all the conversations I had, I think that's the best bit of you know coaching I had," he noted.
Phil Salt made 435 runs in 12 games for KKR in IPL 2024 with 4 fifties to his name. His highest score was 89* and his runs came at a strike rate of 182.
