Venkatesh Iyer Picks 'Hardest Working Person' At RCB. It's Not Virat Kohli
Venkatesh Iyer called RCB's support staff the best he has ever played under.
- Venkatesh Iyer praised RCB's support staff for communication and role clarity
- Venkatesh labelled Dinesh Karthik as the hardest working member of the RCB team in IPL 2026
- "Dinesh Karthik, if I had to point out, was the hardest-working person," he said
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) is a team consisting of champions in every department. The franchise went on to lift their second successive Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 title, defeating the Gujarat Titans in the final on Sunday. With the likes of Virat Kohli, Josh Hazlewood, Rajat Patidar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Tim David, and Krunal Pandya forming the core of the team, there was never any doubt over RCB's potential to challenge for the title. But, as far as the crown of 'hardest worker' in the team is concerned, all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer wants to give it to batting coach Dinesh Karthik.
In a chat with NDTV's Consulting Editor Boria Majumdar, Venkatesh opened up on the experience of learning from RCB's support staff, calling them the best group he has ever played under.
"Best, best. They've been the best support staff I've played with. Purely in terms of communication and role clarity. Handling of players. Handling of situations. And also empowering the players to make decisions. You know, sometimes, especially in India, we are used to coaches dictating situations, which is also necessary. But to empower the players to make their own decisions, to create an environment where the players feel empowered towards leadership-it's something that these people have created," said the all-rounder, who joined RCB from Kolkata Knight Riders after a woeful IPL 2025 campaign.
Among the support staff members, the man who amazed Venkatesh the most with his work ethic was Dinesh Karthik, who became RCB's batting coach right after ending his playing career in 2024. Lauding Karthik's determination to help RCB players, Venkatesh said that he had never come across a batting coach who worked as hard as the former wicketkeeper-batter did this year.
"DK, I think, if I had to point out who was the most hard-working person-of course, barring our logistics guys, it was Dinesh Karthik. Going out in the outside nets, working with batters, then coming back into the centre nets, talking to batters, throwing balls at them for drills... I've never seen a harder-working batting coach than DK.
"Same goes for Andy. It's an amazing resume that he has. So many championships, they speak for themselves, right? Obviously, wherever he's gone, he has created a winning culture. And the key that holds this together, I feel, is Mo Bobat. His being the director of cricket, the way he has led this entire RCB resurgence has been nothing short of phenomenal," said Venkatesh.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru
Virat Kohli
Dinesh Karthik