Dinesh Karthik will be RCB’s new batting coach and mentor for IPL 2025

Summary: RCB hires Dinesh Karthik as mentor and batting coach, aiming to gain from his significant IPL experience. Karthik is excited about his new coaching role and hopes to contribute to the team's growth.

Veteran wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik has been named the men's team's batting coach and mentor by Royal Challengers Bengaluru. Karthik, who declared he would retire following the 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL), will be back in the RCB dugout, but in a new role.

Karthik will appear in a new role. He has frequently graced the microphone (commentary) when he isn't representing the Indian squad or the IPL. Karthik's first task will be to assemble RCB's team for the major auction in the following year and assist RCB in winning the IPL trophy for the first time.

Upon returning to the IPL in 2022, Karthik's second spell with RCB saw him emerge as a fan favorite. In his final three seasons in the affluent league, he smashed 796 runs, perfectly embracing the role of finisher.

Announcing this, RCB’s official Instagram account posted, “We welcome our keeper, Diness Karthik, back to RCB in a new incarnation. DK will lead the RCB men's squad. You can take the man out of cricket, but not the cricket out of a man. Shower him with love, 12th Man Army.

The wicketkeeper-batter appeared in 257 IPL matches, scoring 4,842 runs at an average of 26.32. Apart from RCB, Karthik has represented the Kolkata Knight Riders, Mumbai Indians, Delhi Daredevils, and Kings XI Punjab.

Karthik said about his new role at RCB, “Coaching at the professional level is a new phase in my life that I am very excited about. Hopefully, the depth of my experiences as a player may contribute to the group's development and offer value.”