Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) opener Phil Salt has flown back to the United Kingdom for scans on a finger injury sustained earlier in the IPL 2026 season.
Salt injured his left hand while attempting to stop a boundary at deep backward square leg during RCB's home game against Delhi Capitals (DC) in Bengaluru on 18 April.
According to ESPNCricinfo, both Salt and RCB remain hopeful that the England batter will rejoin the side later in May.
Phil Salt's contributions to RCB
Salt played a crucial role in RCB's maiden IPL title triumph in 2025, scoring 403 runs from 13 matches at a strike rate of 175.98. He scored four half-centuries.
This season, the 29-year-old has aggregated 202 runs from six matches at a strike rate of 168.33, and has scored two half-centuries.
Jacob Bethell, Salt's England teammate, has since replaced the latter in RCB's playing XI, scoring just 39 runs from three innings.
When will Phil Salt return?
The report adds that the defending champions will be eligible to sign a replacement should the injury be season-ending. However, RCB are reportedly still hoping that Salt will be deemed fit sooner rather than later as IPL 2026 nears its business end.
At the moment, though, there is no set date for Salt's possible return to action in IPL 2026.
The Welsh-born wicketkeeper-batter also played an instrumental role in helping Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) lift the IPL title in 2024. With 435 runs from 12 matches, Salt finished as the team’s second-highest run-getter in that season.
Overall, Salt, who has also represented Delhi Capitals (DC), has played 40 IPL matches and has scored 1,258 runs at a strike rate of 174.47. He has scored 12 half-centuries.
RCB head coach Andy Flower, Director of Cricket Mo Bobat, and team mentor Dinesh Karthik have praised Salt in the past.
The Rajat Patidar-led side is currently in second place in the IPL 2026 standings with 12 points from nine matches.
They have won six matches and lost three, with their latest result being a four-wicket loss to the Gujarat Titans (GT) in Ahmedabad. Royal Challengers Bengaluru will next lock horns against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) on Thursday.
