Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) head coach Dinesh Karthik lauded his team’s character and fighting spirit despite a six-wicket loss to Rajasthan Royals (RR) in their third match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 at the Barsapara Stadium on Friday
“It's important to understand that in a tournament like IPL, it's a marathon; you're not going to win every game. But if the team keeps showing character, keeps fighting, that's all that's important,” Karthik said in a video released by RCB on X.
Reflecting on the conditions, Karthik admitted the pitch wasn’t easy for batting, even though RCB started aggressively.
“First up, I felt the pitch was not that easy to bat on. We started with Salty on an absolute slaughter, and again, we picked up pace, but it wasn't really coming on. Like Dave's dismissal, it just showed that the pitch was sticking. It's quite a wonderful effort, in spite of all the challenges that we had, to get to the score that we did.”
He reserved special praise for captain Rajat Patidar, who scored 63 runs and helped the team recover from an early setback to post a mammoth total of 201 runs in 20 overs.
“Rajat Patidar was special. It's just great to see him play so well in terms of shot making, but also understand the situation of the game, and the way he made sure that he was there almost right up to the end shows his character. Very happy as a group to see how well he reacted to that tough situation,” he said.
Karthik also spoke highly of Venkatesh Iyer, who grabbed his unexpected opportunity and scored 29 runs in just 15 balls.
“Venkatesh Iyer, obviously, walking into the game, he wasn't slotted into play. But he got told, right at the back end, that he might need to bat, considering where we were. And for him to come in, just grab his opportunity with both hands, and make an effort, I mean, make an impact in the game, wonderful. Just good signs, and I'm sure he's going to have a bright season whenever he gets the opportunity.”
On the bowling front, Karthik felt the early breakthrough set the tone for RCB. “First of all, we got an early wicket in Jaiswal, and that set the tone for us, and it came from the man that we all believe will make a massive impact in the powerplay.”
However, he acknowledged the match-defining performance from Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Dhruv Jurel, who helped the team chase the target in just 18 overs.
“But as it happens in IPL, there was one extraordinary knock, and he batted beautifully, and so did group durations. It was good to see us, in spite of the onslaught, almost 100 was scored on the first six, but we still took the game that deep. Tells you the character that they have in the team.”
Despite the loss, Karthik remained optimistic about the team’s approach moving forward.
“But as it happens in IPL, there was one extraordinary knock, and he batted beautifully, and so did group durations. It was good to see us, in spite of the onslaught, almost 100 was scored on the first six, but we still took the game that deep. Tells you the character that they have in the team.”
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RCB will next face five-time champions Mumbai Indians at the iconic Wankhede Stadium on Sunday.