IPL 2023: Phil Salt can perform wicketkeeper's role for Delhi Capitals, reckons former India cricketer

New Delhi, Jan 14: Former India cricketer Pragyan Ojha reckons England cricketer Phil Salt can be the wicketkeeper option for Delhi Capitals in the IPL 2023 as their captain Rishabh Pant will miss the competition.

Phil Salt - An Ideal Rishabh Pant replacement

Pant met with an accident last month and the star India cricketer is going to stay away from the action for a long period of time, including IPL.

After Pretoria Capitals secured a dominating win over Sunrisers Eastern Cape on the back of opener Salt's imperious knock of 77 off 47 deliveries, Capitals won the game by 23 runs.

Phil Salt performance in SA20

Anrich Nortje - who also plays for Delhi Capitals in the IPL - was also too hot to handle with a four-over spell that got him two wickets, conceding just 18 runs. Eventually, the Sunrisers could only muster 170/5.

Speaking on Salt's performance on Match Centre Live, Viacom18 Sports expert Pragyan Ojha weighed in on how important a resource a player like Phil Salt can be for the Pretoria Capitals, "The most important thing is when you talk about their sister franchise the situation that they are in they would need someone like Salt to keep and deliver the way he's delivered here. And I think all these think tanks will be looking at him as a resource where he can come in and fix those puzzles which they have a small gap."

Delhi Capitals acquired the services of the explosive batter, Salt, for INR 2 crore in the recently concluded player auctions.

Nortje shines in SA20 opening game for Pretoria

Ojha also expressed his views on Nortje's performance. "He's been bowling quick and if you see the way he's been bowling attacking those stumps, he's trying to be disciplined and see the way he was mixing up the pace. He bowled those knuckle deliveries. When you are bowling at 150 and then suddenly coming back to 120-125 that difference really troubles you. And Nortje has been there, he's been doing that in and out and he knows with those scores on the board it gives you that much cushion to even experiment more and more bowled."

Catch SA20 action live on JioCinema, Sports18 - 1, Sports18 Khel and Colors Tamil.