The Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) are back to winning ways as they won a close game against Rishabh Pant’s Delhi Capitals (DC) by 1 run in match 22 of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL 2021).

RCB head coach Simon Katich who was really happy with his team’s performance praised skipper Virat Kohli and said that he has all the credentials to become a coach himself in the future. This comment came after he revealed how Kohli mentored Devdutt Padikkal in the IPL last year.

“Virat has achieved so much in the game and I am sure he has got a lot more goals to achieve with this India team. But with his sheer hard work, discipline and skill, Virat has all the credentials (for becoming a coach) and there is no doubt players would listen to him,” Katich told BBC Sports.

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“Given his experience and the esteem he is held in in Indian cricket, last season we asked Virat to mentor Devdutt. Devdutt was a kid playing his first IPL, which is a long, physically and mentally draining tournament,” he added.

The former Australia batsman then talked about how the Indian skipper urged Padikkal to work on his fitness and get his fitness levels to IPL standards.

“There were also times when he started to physically tire. He could get fatigued, make a mistake and get out. Virat urged him to work on his fitness when the tournament was over, Virat also talked a lot of tactics with him, how teams were going to bowl at him and how to counter that,” the 45-year-old said.

Padikkal has looked great in this year’s IPL as he has scored 188 runs at an average of 47 in his first 5 matches for RCB which also includes a century against Rajasthan Royals.

(With BBC Sports inputs)