A moment between Virat Kohli and Dinesh Karthik was caught by the cameras during the match between Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) in IPL 2025 on Thursday that went viral on the internet. As per the visual, it appeared that RCB batting coach Karthik and head coach Andy Flower had suggested something to Kohli, who was fielding at the long-on boundary. However, Kohli appeared to reject the suggestion, folding his hands in response. The image has gone viral on social media.
What exactly the conversation between Kohli and Karthik was is unknown. However, Karthik later lavished praise on Kohli after RCB had sneaked an 11-run victory over RR. Kohli had smashed 70 runs off just 42 balls earlier in the day.
Here is what Karthik had to say about Kohli, speaking after the game in the RCB dressing room.
“There is a loss for words. Purely the hunger that he has. It’s one thing to play in the IPL for 18 years, But it’s a different thing to be consistent for that long. This tells you a lot about the man. And he’s very determined. In the first three games in Bengaluru, he told me two things. One was that he could have probably thought a little better and next, even the fans – the way he looks at it – he knows that a lot of people turn up just to watch him bat.”
“So you can see that even though he did not say it explicitly, he felt that. And if that man puts his mind to something, the way he adapts, understands situations, I am too small a person to even speak about him. He is an absolute champion. Just the way he guided Dev (Devdutt Padikkal) along the way, making sure he took (Phil) Salt along at the start. His body language and commitment to a cause is outstanding.”
Kohli and Padikkal (50 off 27) stitched a partnership of 95 runs that helped RCB post a total of 205 in 20 overs. In response, RR appeared well on track and needed only 18 runs off just 12 balls. However, an excellent penultimate over by Australian pacer Josh Hazlewood, where he took two wickets, turned the game in RCB’s favour.
It was RCB’s first home win of the season, having previously lost three at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. RCB leapt up to third in the IPL 2025 points table with the victory.
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