Ahmedabad, May 31 (IANS) Royal Challengers Bengaluru batting coach and mentor Dinesh Karthik said the presence of seasoned campaigners Josh Hazlewood, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Virat Kohli has given the side a sense of calmness in the ongoing IPL 2026 final, where they are having the upper hand against Gujarat Titans.

Hazlewood and Bhuvneshwar have already made an impact in the final happening in front of a packed crowd at the Narendra Modi Stadium by taking out Shubman Gill and B Sai Sudharsan in the power-play.

“A little bit, I must say (on a different feeling coming into the final. When you have people like Hoff (Hazlewood), who’s been part of many a trophy, and he has this habit of winning big games, and he knows what it takes to win a big game, there’s a sense of calmness, actually, when we have those bowling meetings,” said Karthik in a chat with the broadcasters at the half-way mark of the first innings.

Karthik was very effusive in his praise of the two and talismanic batter Kohli. “That’s so important, and I’m talking about Hoff here because he’s a big influence on the bowling group. Bhuvi, who’s won a few titles, and Virat Kohli, as we know. So these are three important names there who have won titles and know what it takes to win a big game.”

RCB have an opportunity to join MI and CSK as the only teams to successfully defend their IPL title, especially with the winner of Qualifier 1 winning the trophy last eight times. On whether RCB are comfortable in being front-runners to defend their title, Karthik said they have been mindful in motivating the side to win their second IPL title.

“I think so because we set a mindset of trying to be attacking champions. We wanted to keep pushing towards a second title. One thing that we refrained from using was language around defending our title. Instead, we spoke about trying to win a second title. That’s what we’ve constantly spoken about, and I think that’s made a big difference.”