Royal Challengers Bengaluru won their maiden IPL title in June.
Veteran spinner Karn Sharma has words of praise for current Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) head coach Andy Flower, who guided the franchise to their maiden Indian Premier League (IPL) title earlier this year.
Karn Sharma, who joined RCB in 2022, has worked with the former Zimbabwe cricketer for two years. Andy Flower was appointed Royal Challengers Bengaluru head coach in August 2023. Karn Sharma revealed a little bit about the transition from Mike Hesson, who was the Director of Cricket for four years, to Andy Flower.
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“Great coach. Very good. I spent two years with him. Very exciting, very good experience. He’s cool. I think the RCB dressing room became a lot calmer [when transition happened from Mike Hesson to Andy Flower]. There was more focus on work,” the spinner told CricXtasy in the latest episode of The CX Pod Exclusives.
“The dressing room vibe was—whatever the situation, focus on the job and the process. That was the message. Focus on the process, and results will follow automatically,” he added.
Karn Sharma also opened up on Rajat Patidar being made the skipper of Royal Challengers Bengaluru ahead of IPL 2025. The Madhya Pradesh cricketer took over from Faf du Plessis, who was released by the franchise ahead of IPL 2025. Rajat Patidar has been with Royal Challengers Bengaluru since 2021.
“Nothing was said or discussed back when I was with RCB [about who would be long-term captain]. But it was understood that if India or the franchise wanted to bring in a captain from outside, okay. But if not, then everyone was totally onboard. It had to be Rajat [Patidar]. He was already performing well, and everyone liked him—that’s also very important,” the 37-year-old explained.
“To me, he’s a dangerous batter — a very good striker. We’ve played together a lot. He’s a great human being too, communicates well, has class, and performs differently. Whatever he’s doing, even if he scores zero, he stays simple. Even if something doesn’t go his way, he doesn’t lose balance,” elaborated the spinner.
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The former Uttar Pradesh Under-14 cricketer revealed how difficult it was for him to bowl to Rajat Patidar. “As a spinner, it’s tough to bowl to him. It’s his intent. He knows he can dominate. And he’s that kind of batsman—if he gets three balls, he’ll look to hit all three.
“Now he’s started sweeping less. Once we played a domestic game—Railways vs. MP in Gwalior. He kept sweeping so much, it looked like he had become a spinner himself! But back then, he used to do it perfectly.”
Karn Sharma praised the intent of Royal Challengers Bengaluru over the last couple of IPL seasons. The franchise, led by Faf du Plessis in 2024, reached the IPL playoffs last year but lost to Rajasthan Royals (RR) by four wickets in the Eliminator.
This season, however, the Rajat Patidar-led side went all the way to the final, where they defeated Shreyas Iyer-led Punjab Kings (PBKS) by six runs to clinch their first-ever title.
“This time the cricket was overall really good. Even in 2024, we had won 6–7 games and qualified late. But this RCB played with more intent. They had a strong motivation to win, and they played smart cricket. Different players stepped up every game,” stated the veteran cricketer.
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