During the timeout, Dinesh Karthik, RCB’s mentor and batting coach, was seen giving some advice to Virat Kohli.
During the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 final between Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Punjab Kings (PBKS), an interesting event transpired in the first innings. During the timeout, Dinesh Karthik, RCB’s mentor and batting coach, was seen giving some advice to Virat Kohli, who struggled to get going in the final.
While recalling the same incident on Sky Sports, Michael Atherton asked Karthik what he told the legendary batter during the break. He also cheekily mocked Karthik, saying his advice didn’t work, as Kohli couldn’t make a big impact, even after the chat.
“He was at the crease, and you spent a long time, I saw you there, pointing at him, and I think he was out the very next over, after your five-minute lecture. I just thought, what is this man telling one of the greatest batters that has ever walked the earth? What can he possibly be telling him? And then I thought, whatever he told him didn’t work, because he was out the very next over.”
Atherton’s comments left Karthik giggling, and he didn’t have any answer to what he advised Kohli, which obviously didn’t work. Later, Karthik confirmed that he can’t recall what he said in the middle, leaving everyone on the panel laughing.
Dinesh Karthik did a fabulous job in his maiden stint as a mentor and batting coach with RCB. He worked extensively with most batters and improved their games, which was visible throughout IPL 2025, as several batters exceeded expectations from the RCB team.
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Numerous cricketers praised Karthik for working on the technical aspects of their batting and improving them as batters. He also devised strategies for each game and ensured RCB had a plan leading into each fixture, as they operated brilliantly throughout the campaign.
While other coaches also did their jobs and were vital in the team’s success, Karthik’s role was certainly big, as confirmed by several players. He has always been a terrific reader of the game and took his vast experience into his coaching to form a solid team in the auction before helping them clinch their maiden title.
This IPL-winning campaign will establish his reputation as a coach, and he can get more gigs in future across T20 leagues, given the expansion of this format. He understands T20 cricket better than many prominent coaches around the world and showed it again, this time not as a player, but while being in the coaching department.
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