Salil Arora

Salil Arora was born in Amritsar, Punjab, into a sports-loving family. His father played cricket at the district level and was instrumental in introducing him to the game early.

Arora represented India's Under-19 side, earning a place in the squad led by Dhruv Jurel that won the 2019 Under-19 Asia Cup in Sri Lanka. He featured in one match of that tournament, against Afghanistan, scoring a composed 29 in a low-scoring chase, opening the batting and sharing a useful partnership.

His senior debut arrived in the 2024 Ranji Trophy, and he made it count immediately. Coming to the crease with Punjab reduced to 48-5 against Madhya Pradesh, he steadied the innings with a debut century, helping his side reach 277.

In the Super League stage of the 2025 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy against Jharkhand, Arora walked in and proceeded to dismantle the bowling attack, reaching his century off just 39 balls before finishing on an unbeaten 125 off 45 deliveries. The innings is now the third-highest score in Punjab's SMAT history, behind only Abhishek Sharma's 148 and Shubman Gill's 126, and helped Punjab post a massive 235 for 6.

Across the 2025 SMAT campaign, Arora aggregated 359 runs in nine innings at a strike rate approaching 200, topping Punjab's run charts for the season and finishing as one of the leading six-hitters in the competition with 28 maximums.

Arora had gone unsold at the IPL 2025 auction, a setback he absorbed by returning to domestic cricket and putting together the most productive season of his career. At the IPL 2026 mini-auction in Abu Dhabi, he entered at a base price of Rs 30 lakh and attracted a bidding contest between Mumbai Indians and Sunrisers Hyderabad before SRH secured him for INR1.50 crore.