Royal Challengers Bengaluru batting coach Dinesh Karthik broke down the method behind Tim David’s extraordinary late strike in Bengaluru after Australian powerhouse RCB’s win over Chennai Super Kings in their Indian Premier League 2026 on Sunday.
RCB had already set the tone through Rajat Patidar and Devdutt Padikkal, but it was David’s finish that took the game away from CSK. With 35 balls left in the innings when he arrived, David faced 25 of them and remained unbeaten on 70, hitting eight sixes and three boundaries to lift RCB to 250 for 3. CSK were later bowled out for 207.
Only one other batsman has scored as many or more runs without facing the ball in the first 14 overs of a T20 innings where ball-by-ball data is available. David’s innings also delivered the decisive blow in the 19th over as he dismantled Jamie Overton for 6, 4, 6, 6, 6 to amass 30 runs. One of those hits, a 106-metre six, cleared the ground and brought the Chinnaswamy crowd to their feet, with Virat Kohli seen applauding from the dressing room.
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Calling Tim David a naturally gifted striker with the ball, Dinesh Karthik said his power hitting is a combination of natural ability and focused repetition in training.
“He’s an extremely gifted hitter of the ball. Very smooth swing. He’s got long levers. And he has a lot of the ingredients you need to hit big naturally. For him, it’s all about making sure all those things are in place consistently in practice. Being a middle-order batsman, he can play a lot less in games than the RCB batsman,” Karthik said.
Karthik added that David’s consistency in the middle order over the past year has made him one of the best T20 batsmen in the world.
“So sometimes you have to deal with it in the nets and make sure he’s hitting enough balls. He feels in good space. And that’s all you can do. The rest is so good. It’s fair to say he’s been one of the best batsmen in the world in this format for a good 12-18 months now with consistency in the middle order,” he added.
David also credited his brilliant performance against CSK to the contribution of Dinesh Karthik and said that the management helped him prepare effectively for the conditions.
“I’m not changing my game much but I have confidence from all the preparation I’m doing. It’s nice to work with DK (Dinesh Karthik’s brotherhood name), he’s an experienced player in these conditions. I’ve been in the IPL for a few years and with that kind of preparation you don’t put pressure on yourself to perform,” David said at the post-match presentation.
He added that the conditions and support from his teammates allowed him to play freely.
“Very happy. It doesn’t always happen like that. The captain (Rajat Patidar, who scored 48 off 19 balls) was smoking it. And I only took a few balls off him. It was super fun. Going to bat with Jitesh (Sharma) and (Romario) Shepherd behind me really gives me confidence,” he said.
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Issued by:
Saurabh Kumar
Published on:
06 Apr 2026 01:02 IST
