Jacob Bethell’s IPL 2026 stint is proving to be a great learning experience. Why wouldn’t it be? After all, he shares the dug-out with the one and only Virat Kohli, who, according to many, is the greatest chase-master in white-ball cricket.
Not long ago, in March to be precise earlier this year, Bethell scored a fantastic innings for England in the T20 World Cup semifinal against India chasing a 250+ total, but he couldn’t take his team over the line.
In the company of Kohli now and learning from him day in and day out, going forward maybe he will be winning matches for England, more often than not. Last year, Bethell played in the IPL for the first time and spent a lot of time with Kohli.
Be that as it may, he needs more time to understand the nuances of chasing. Bethell has opened with Kohli in all the matches he has played so far this season.
“Watching Virat chase, you understand the art of batting, how to control a chase and stay not out. It’s about shifting gears based on the situation,” the left-handed batter said.
“Walking out with Virat, hearing the crowd, it was loud. You have to stay completely switched on.
“When I got to RCB, I was curious about the experience. Watching Virat, Rajat [Patidar], and speaking to DK [Dinesh Karthik], I realised the game shifts here. It’s played at a high tempo; you have to be aggressive and brave.”
Bethell, considered to be the next big thing in English cricket, has only played three games this season and is yet to make his mark for RCB. Last year, he had played five games and scored a fifty in the team’s trophy-winning campaign.
Journey across continents!
The 22-year-old has come a long way since his childhood in the West Indies, hasn’t he? Bethell shed some light on his cricketing journey, all the way down to RCB.
"I grew up in Barbados, always with a bat and ball. Around 10–12, I started taking it seriously. I moved to England for school, progressed to Warwickshire, and signed my first contract in 2021. A stress fracture set me back, but I came back strong, earned an England call-up, and then arrived in Bengaluru,” he said.
Bethell has a champion’s mindset. And he is here in India to improve. He is absolutely sure about that. Alastair Cook has got his answer. A few days ago, he had questioned Bethell's stint with the IPL, considering he was not getting any opportunities.
Bethell had not played any games while Cook made those remarks. Cook wanted him rather to play in the ongoing county cricket season. While it's not Bethell's official response to Cook, he kind of made his point, “I wanted to be better than last year. Whether you play a few games or many, it’s about hunger. This is the marquee tournament, if you don’t improve here, when will you?”
Now, RCB travel to the Ekana Stadium to play Lucknow Super Giants on Thursday. Bethell would hope to get another chance and then own the spot at the other end from Kohli.