Dinesh Karthik links up with London Spirit as part of support staff

Dinesh Karthik has been appointed as the batting coach and mentor of the London Spirit's Men's Team ahead of the 2026 season of The Hundred. It will be Karthik's first role with any franchise based in this competition.

Karthik, 40, had made 180 international appearances for India across all three-formats during his career and also played 257 IPL games from 2008 to 2024. Ahead of the 2025 IPL season, he took up the same role of batting coach and mentor with the Royal Challengers Bengaluru who had a successful campaign as they were crowned champions for the first time in IPL history.

London Spirit's director of cricket Mo Bobat, who is also RCB's Director of Cricket, welcomed Karthik to the franchise and said he was looking forward to the enthusiasm with each he would work with the players and fellow support staff at the franchise.

"It's a pleasure to welcome DK [Dinesh Karthik] to London Spirit. He is a truly original thinker in our game and his vast experience in short-format and franchise cricket will be invaluable to us. He's also great fun to work with and brings an infectious energy and enthusiasm to everything he does."

Karthik said working at Lord's during the English summer was a dream come true for him and was excited to enter this new journey. "What an exciting time to be joining London Spirit!," Karthik said. "When I heard about the plans and the ambitions of Mo, MCC and the Tech Titans, I was really enthusiastic to join.

"To spend the English summer working at Lord's is truly a dream come true. It is the ground where I made my debut for India and I played my last Test match - Lord's is very close to my heart. I can't wait to see the squad come together and to work with some exceptional cricketers next year."