RCB analyst praises Dinesh Karthik impact on IPL 2025 title win, ‘He’s like Ashish Nehra’

Royal Challengers Bangalore ended their wait for an elusive title in IPL 2025. Rajat Patidar’s side defeated Punjab Kings in the final to clinch their first trophy in 18 years in June. While the likes of Virat Kohli, Josh Hazlewood and Phil Salt played a huge part in the success, much of it was also owed to batting coach Dinesh Karthik.

DK made small adjustments, much like Ashish Nehra: RCB analyst

Speaking on For the Love of Cricket Podcast to Stuart Broad and Jos Buttler, RCB analyst Freddie Wilde detailed the workings behind the franchise and their title win in June. RCB had not won the trophy in 18 years but finally did so at Ahmedabad, ending Virat Kohli’s wait for glory.

Wilde also praised Dinesh Karthik and his accumen of how the game works. Karthik who played for RCB in two separate stints, joined the team as a batting coach last year. He was credited with transforming RCB’s brand of cricket, urging them to be more aggressive.

Wilde however suggested that much like Ashish Nehra at Gujarat Titans, Dinesh Karthik is also very involved with what happens on the field. Nehra has caught the eye for his ‘pen and paper’ style coaching at Titans, which has seen them win reach the playoffs in 3 of their 4 seasons.

“DK was very animated, similar to Ashish Nehra, in terms of moving fielders & making adjustments – in couple of tight games, where DK made small adjustments to the field as a football manager do – I think it was against CSK, where he moved third man fractionally finer, by a few meters and ball went to straight to that guy,” Wilde added.