Salil Arora smashes 39 ball century, Will he be picked in IPL MINI Auction?

Salil Arora, a young wicket-keeper batter from Punjab has been making headlines with his domestic performances. The 23-year-old caught eyeballs after his impressive 39-ball century in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy match against Jharkhand. He has registered himself in the upcoming Mini Auction and it will be interesting to see how this knock helps him and which are the teams who will go after him.

Salil Arora came into bat with Punjab in a bit of trouble at 62/3 at the end of 8 overs. Despite coming in a tough position, Salil smashed a flurry of boundaries to put Punjab on the accelerator. Despite losing wickets at the other end, Arora continued his brutal assault against Jharkhand bowlers at DY Patil Academy in Pune. His effort helped Punjab post

a monumental 235/6 batting first. He eventually finished with 125 off just 45 balls. In the final over of the innings, Arora hit Sushant Mishra for 3 sixes and a boundary. Overall, Salil finished with nine fours and 11 sixes in his 45-ball stay.

Salil scored his century in 39 deliveries, which is the third-fastest century for Punjab in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy after Abhishek’s 28-ball and 32-ball century. His unbeaten 125 now stands as Punjab’s third-highest in the history of SMAT , behind Abhishek Sharma’s 148 and Shubman Gill’s 126. Although his innings propelled his team to 235 but it was not enough as Jharkhand chased down the target in 18.1 overs.

Salil will enter the IPL 2026 Auction with a base price of ₹30 lakh. The 23-year-old is a middle order batter who keeps wickets, which is a good combination as most teams are looking for dynamic players. Salil Arora could be shown interest by host of franchises in the upcoming Mini Auction. He has played nine FC matches scoring 458 runs at an average of 41 which includes one century and three fifties. In T20s he has amassed 267 runs in seven matches at a strike rate of more than 165.