Dinesh Karthik has been appointed mentor and batting coach for men's Hundred team London Spirit in what is his first support-staff role with a franchise outside the IPL.
"It's a pleasure to welcome DK to London Spirit," Spirit director of cricket Mo Bobat said in a statement. "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.
"The signing of another elite individual with significant stature in the game demonstrates our ambition, and the importance we place on ensuring that our players receive the best possible support."
Karthik, who is a prominent broadcast commentator, has played a similar role with Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in IPL 2025 after finishing his IPL career in 2024. He is also an active cricketer and is currently representing Sharjah Warriorz in the UAE's ILT20. Bobat is also the team director at RCB, the reigning IPL champions.
"I can't wait to see the squad come together and to work with some exceptional cricketers next year" Dinesh Karthik
"What an exciting time to be joining London Spirit," Karthik said. "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."
Spirit have not reached the title round of the five-season-old Hundred.
Karthik, 40, played 18 years of international cricket in a stop-start career, turning out in 26 Tests, 94 ODIs and 60 T20Is, and has played franchise T20 cricket at the SA20 and the ILT20 apart from in the IPL.