New Delhi, May 21 (IANS) Royal Challengers Bengaluru mentor and batting coach Dinesh Karthik said the franchise’s supporters had embraced him like one of their own, adding that the bond with the franchise’s fan base played a critical part in shaping his journey.

Karthik represented RCB in IPL 2025, before having his second stint with the side from 2022 to 2024. After ending his IPL playing career, Karthik made a seamless transition to being the side’s batting coach and mentor, as RCB won the championship for the first time in 2025.

“RCB fans made me who I am today. They adopted me as their son from their own land, and I have enjoyed that. One moment I would like to live again is RCB winning the IPL. I think that was a great moment, an iconic moment,” said Karthik in an upcoming episode of the Quest Talk podcast by iQOO.

Defending champions RCB have already sealed their spot in the IPL 2026 playoffs and are on top of the points table with 18 points from 13 games. When the host suggested it could happen again this year, Karthik replied: “Touch wood.”

Karthik credited the franchise’s leadership group, which had Sanjay Bangar and Mike Hesson before Andy Flower and Mo Bobat took over, for building a strong winning culture in the setup.

“In 2022, Sanjay Bangar and Mike Hesson did a good job for RCB in picking a fairly balanced team, but we still managed to keep going to the playoffs, but never ended up crossing that line. And then there were two people that RCB bought – Andy Flower and Mo Bobat.

“In the recent past, the person who has highly influenced me, I have learned a lot from him and enjoyed spending time with him, is Mo Bobat, because I feel he is someone who has great vision, knowledge, and who has come through the grind and is very respectful.

“Andy Flower is by far the best coach in the world by a distance. Purely from a results point of view, there is no one even close to him. Mind you, he does everything possible to win. And I’m very proud to say that RCB has a good culture in place and that is reflective of the way we play, of the way we behave, and of the way we prepare,” he added.

–IANS

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