"Appreciate that you care": Phil Salt praises Dinesh Karthik, takes subtle dig at Brendon McCullum

Dinesh Karthik was one of the main reasons behind Royal Challengers Bengaluru's (RCB) maiden IPL title-winning run in the 2025 season. He retired from professional cricket, but his mind remains as sharp as before which helped the team to groom. Recently, during the ongoing IPL 2026 season, the franchise has shared an official video, purely dedicated to one of their coaching members, Dinesh Karthik.

RCB and England cricket team opener Phil Salt is all about praising the former India keeper-batter's cricketing intellect in the video. Salt describes why Karthik is the mastermind of the team.

Dinesh Karthik's inclusion proved extremely impactful in IPL 2025

The Royal Challengers Bengaluru did not delay in appointing Dinesh Karthik as their mentor and batting coach soon after he retired from professional cricket. The former cricketer joined the coaching set-up of RCB ahead of the IPL 2025 season.

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The inclusion of the former cricketer proved instantly effective as the team went to claim their first-ever silverware in the season. The franchise kept the coaching set-up untouched in 2026 with minimal changes in the players' set-up.

RCB made a confident start in the ongoing IPL 2026 season

RCB made a solid start in the ongoing season, defeating the Sunrisers Hyderabad in a high-scoring match. The Red and Black brigade needed only 15.4 overs to claim the target of 202. Phil Salt's early dismissal did not dent the team's tactics as Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, captain Rajat Patidar, and Tim David played according to the plans.

Ahead of their next IPL 2026 fixture, which will be against the Chennai Super Kings on Sunday, March 5, at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, the franchise highlighted some moments of Dinesh Karthik in a practice session.

Phil Salt explains why Dinesh Karthik is a mastermind as a coach

Phit Salt, who watched the England cricket team head coach Brendon McCullum, and RCB batting coach and Mentor Dinesh Karthik from the close, describes how the former Indian cricketer is important for the team. Salt explains Karthik's work process in a brief.

The batter stated that their batting coach is incredible in gathering the details and information to work with the other coaching members. Using all of the information, they formulate the best possible way to make a positive cut during the matches.

"DK, the mastermind. He's very, very detailed. Very good at getting all the information together along with Freddy and the coaching staff. And putting it into something very easy to take on the pitch. I'd say that's probably his biggest strength," Phil Salt said in the video.

High-quality batting. He brings a lot of stuff to our coaching setup. Which is twice as valuable for having played so recently. So we are very, very fortunate to have DK," the experienced opener added.

Salt also said that the coaching he is receiving from Karthik is one of the best he has received in a long time, before adding that "I appreciate that you care," which many felt was a dig at the England head coach, Brendon McCullum, who has often been accused of not caring about his players.

Salt, clearing this isn't sarcasm 😭😭 pic.twitter.com/MRVbxCS0bP

— Shailesh (@shailesh18_) April 1, 2026

Royal Challengers Bengaluru fans will wish to see Phil Salt flourishing again with his bat, as the batter has been struggling to get runs since the 2026 T20 World Cup.

Read More: Watch: Digvesh Rathi, Nitish Rana bury hatchet in front of Rishabh Pant ahead of IPL 2026 clash