Former India batsman Dinesh Karthik has named Virat Kohli as a key reason for taking up the role of batting coach and mentor at Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), a year after he announced his retirement from all formats of international cricket. Karthik revealed how RCB’s director of cricket, Mo Bobat, first floated the idea of him joining the franchise as part of the support staff during IPL 2024 and how a final call from Kohli helped seal the decision.
The 40-year-old eventually became a key part of the set-up RCB won their first IPL title last yeardefeated Punjab Kings in the final in Ahmedabad.
“It all started when I was finishing in 2024 and Mo asked me if I was interested. I was in the middle of the tournament and it was a completely different IPL season. We lost six out of seven or seven out of eight games, I don’t remember exactly, and we had a mountain to climb. To be fair, nobody gave us a chance,” Karthik said on the RCB podcast.
He explained that the decision was not an easy one as he discussed it at length with his wife Mo Bobat and Malolan Rangarajan, head of scouting and coach at RCB, to better understand the opportunity.
Coaching philosophy, his bond with fellow commentators, India’s T20 World Cup win, RCB’s brand of cricket, his AI videos on Instagram and much more: DK holds nothing back!
Watch the full episode @bigbasket_com represents: pic.twitter.com/9duUy9aHBQ— Royal Challengers Bengaluru (@RCBTweets) May 5, 2026
“Mo was very confident that I would be useful to the team. I trust him a lot; I’ve come to like him a lot and I share a very good equation with him. He didn’t try to convince me, but instead he showed me exactly what the role was going to be and told me it was a good place to be, given where I was in my career. I trusted him completely and went for it,” he added.
Karthik further revealed that Kohli encouraged him to seriously consider the offer, suggests that it would be appropriate. He also mentioned that head coach Andy Flower would like to have him on board.
“I spoke to Virat for a while at the end of the season and he encouraged me a lot. He said, ‘Think about it, I think it’s good’,” Karthik continued. “When the offer officially came at the end of the season, after I hung up my boots, Mo called to say they were interested. He also mentioned that Andy was very happy and that he felt a couple of Indian coaches would help.
In the end, Kohli’s words, “You should do it. You’d probably be a pretty good fit”, proved to be the final nudge Karthik needed before making up his mind.
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Published on:
05 May 2026 16:49 IST
