Bengaluru

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) mentor and batting coach Dinesh Karthik opened up on batter Mayank Agarawal's return to the franchise, saying that his connection with the state and match-winning abilities with the bat played a role in his comeback.

Mayank was signed by RCB earlier in May after Devdutt Padikkal, the team's designated number three, was ruled out due to an injury. Mayank was brought back to the team for Rs one crore. With 247 runs in 10 innings and two half-centuries as a number three, Padikkal had been a crucial part of the line-up.

Speaking as quoted by a press note by RCB in a video titled 'E03 RCB's road to Finale' on their official Youtube, Karthik said about injuries and scouting of replacements, "When somebody gets ruled out, it's obviously unfortunate, but you try to replace that player as best you can. Devdutt's injury happened, and then there is a process to figure out when he will be ready. When we knew he was not going to be ready, we went through the scouting process."

"The scouting process is very strong. Malolan Rangarajan heads it and one of Mo Bobat's greatest strengths was how well he scouted for the English team."

"The process we go through is quite fascinating. When Malolan goes through the names we want, it's very close to how we look at players and what we do, and then the whole group sits and decides."

It was obvious that Mayank is the right choice. We know what he has done before. He is a local boy as well, and he has won so many games with the bat. It almost became a simple choice once that name was given," he concluded.

So far in IPL 2025, Mayank has made 71 runs in three games at an average of 35.50 with a strike rate of over 154, including a vital 41* in a partnership with Jitesh Sharma during their final league stage game against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), which guided RCB a top-two finish. He also played a cameo of 19 during a 102-run chase against Punjab Kings (PBKS) in Qualifier one, sealing RCB's final spot.

He started his career in the IPL with RCB from 2011-13, scoring 433 runs in 24 innings with a fifty. Since then, he has played for Punjab Kings (PBKS), Delhi Capitals (DC), Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) and Rising Pune Supergiant (RPG). He scored 2,732 runs in 130 IPL matches at an average of 22.96, with a century and 13 fifties.

READ MORE: Farah Usmani's campaign to break stereotype of Indian Muslim women

The final between Punjab Kings and Royal Challengers Bengaluru is set for Tuesday at Ahmedabad's Narendra Modi Stadium. This is RCB's fourth final ever and PBKS's second final and their first in 11 years. The final at Ahmedabad on Tuesday is all set to be an epic clash as one of these sides will get their first-ever IPL title ever.