Dinesh Karthik feels that the Indian Premier League (IPL) has instilled a winning mentality in the Indian players over the years. “The IPL has brought out a winning mentality in all our players. With the influx of money and the financial benefits that a lot of the teams receive, and in turn the stakeholders, much of it has been put back into infrastructure. So, when infrastructure grows, eventually the quality of sport develops as well,” he said in a conversation with Mo Bobat, Director of Cricket, RCB, and former England cricketer, Isa Guha, during the RCB Innovation Lab Indian Sports Summit.
The former India wicket-keeper further added, “We can say that since the IPL has become a part of Indian cricket’s fabric, they can now field two to three teams in international cricket at the same time and almost compete with each one of them. Right now, India is in a very privileged place where they have such a good assortment of cricketers across skill sets.”
Reflecting on his experience of sharing a dressing room with Glenn McGrath in the early years of the IPL and how it shaped his approach to the game, “For me, the whole ideology of how Australia played at that time was a massive shock. They felt like a pack of wolves out to win every game. But with IPL, in my first year, I got to spend time with Glenn McGrath in close quarters and practice with him. I got to know him better and became comfortable, which helped the confidence and mindset of competing with the best,” he said.
The second edition of the RCB Innovation Lab Indian Sports Summit Powered by Leaders will be held on March 14 and 15 in Bengaluru and is currently underway at the Padukone Dravid Centre for Sports Excellence.
Along with cricketers Dinesh Karthik, Isa Guha, and RCB’s Director of Cricket Mo Bobat, international sports icon and RCB cricketer Virat Kohli, two-time Olympic medallist and former India hockey player PR Sreejesh, Jayant Chaudhary, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship are scheduled to attend the event.
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