The Hundred 2026: Dinesh Karthik joins London Spirit as mentor and batting coach

London Spirit have added former India wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik to their support staff ahead of The Hundred 2026. Karthik has been appointed as the team’s batting coach and mentor, marking his first coaching role in the competition. After guiding Royal Challengers Bengaluru to their maiden IPL title as mentor in 2025, Karthik expands his coaching career in England’s 100-ball tournament.

The 40-year-old retired from the IPL after the 2024 season and moved into mentorship with RCB the following year, helping them lift their first-ever IPL trophy. Meanwhile, the London Spirit, who have yet to reach a final in The Hundred, have roped him in to bring new ideas and a winning mindset to their setup.

It’s a pleasure to welcome DK: Mo Bobat

London Spirit announced that Karthik will join the men’s team as batting coach and mentor for the 2026 season. Notably, this is his first role with a franchise outside the IPL. He will be rejoined by Mo Bobat, the team’s Director of Cricket, and Andy Flower, the head coach, both of whom he worked with at RCB. Bobat called him a truly original thinker with vast short-format experience. He praised his energy, enthusiasm, and strong understanding of franchise cricket as qualities that would significantly benefit the group. 

“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,” he said in a statement.

Across his 18-year international career, he represented India in 180 matches across formats and featured in franchise leagues such as the IPL, SA20, and ILT20. Meanwhile, Karthik opened up about working in England during the summer and spoke about returning to Lord’s. 

“What an exciting time to be joining London Spirit. 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,” Karthik said.