RCB Opener Phil Salt Flies Back to England for Finger Injury Scans

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) opener Phil Salt has returned to England for scans on his injured finger, which has kept him out of the team’s last three IPL 2026 matches. Salt sustained the injury while diving to save a boundary during RCB’s match against Delhi Capitals on April 18. In his absence, Jacob Bethell has partnered with Virat Kohli at the top of the order for RCB.
Salt, 29, injured a finger on his left hand and flew back home at the request of England’s national team management for further assessment. Both the player and the franchise are optimistic about his quick recovery to rejoin RCB this month as they aim to defend their title from last season.
RCB could bring in a replacement for Salt under IPL regulations if his injury is deemed season-ending, but they are giving him every chance to recover. Salt had been a key player for RCB, scoring 202 runs in six innings at an impressive strike rate of 168.33 before his injury sidelined him.
The timing of Salt’s injury is unfortunate for RCB, who are currently in second place in the IPL 2026 points table, trailing only the Punjab Kings. The team is now on a break and is set to face Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in their upcoming match at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow on Thursday.