Lucknow, May 23 (IANS) Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s batting coach and mentor, Dinesh Karthik, has revealed that despite the shock of Virat Kohli’s decision to step down from Test cricket, the Indian veteran batter was at his ‘happiest and best’ in the aftermath of his announcement.

RCB’s clash against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Friday is Kohli’s first game since his decision. RCB were supposed to face Kolkata Knight Riders at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, but the game was washed out, which also prompted the game against SRH to be shifted to Lucknow.

Fans were flooding in numbers and as a special tribute to their most beloved cricketer and had worn white T-shirts to honour Kohli’s retirement from Test cricket.

“It came as a shock to the outside world, so we are just observing what Virat is up to. He is at his happiest best now, he is enjoying the sport, and he really wants to spend his time with his family. It’s a personal decision, we respect it, and like everyone else, this is happening, but the fact is, it’s great to see him happy and ready whenever we want him to play. The key is to keep him in good spirits,” said Karthik in a pre-game chat with the broadcasters.

The game against Hyderabad is of utmost importance for RCB as it gives them a chance to move past Gujarat Titans to the first spot in the IPL 2025 table. Karthik reflected on the chance of going top and how the mid-season break, courtesy of India-Pakistan tensions, helped RCB to recover.

“I think midway through this tournament is to achieve the top two. These are two important games for us, and we will try to get into the top two if possible. It has been a welcome change, the boys are fresh and ready to go, in between a tournament like this with this kind of intensity, it can get tiring, especially at the backend of the tournament, this break has come so we embrace it with both hands,” he said.

“Rajat has had his time to recover, it’s a big positive, on the other hand, we lost Dev (Padikkal) but he couldn’t be fit, we miss him but we got Mayank and he is a talent, he has been there in the tournament since many years so looking forward to seeing him in action,” added Karthik.

–IANS

aaa/bsk/