Alastair Cook took a vicious shot at Kevin Pietersen over ‘Jacob Bethell in the IPL’ comment. Former England captain Alastair Cook has once again taken a sharp dig at his former teammate Kevin Pietersen over the debate surrounding young batsman Jacob Bethell and his IPL stint with Royal Challengers Bengaluru.The debate began after Cook suggested Bethell should consider cutting short his stay for IPL 2026 and return to county cricket, saying sitting on the bench was not helping the youngster’s development. Despite Bethell’s sensational 45-ball century during the semi-finals of the ICC T20 World Cup 2026, Cook felt the left-hander needed regular game time rather than spending another season largely unused in the IPL set-up.On the Stick to Cricket podcast, Cook previously praised Bethell’s talent and backed him as a future top-order player for England.
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Akeal Hosein emphasizes discipline over goals“Because of that top-order batting, the way he played in Sydney, against that attack, in those conditions… I was looking at the players there and I’m sure the guy can open. If he can bat three, he can open,” Cook said.He also questioned the value of remaining on the IPL bench during a crucial development phase.“(But) it’s not ideal, is it? Bethell really shouldn’t be because he’s not opening. He’s sitting around the IPL doing nothing. Ideally he could come back and open for Warwickshire to help England,” he added.But Pietersen vehemently disagreed and launched a direct reaction on social media, insisting that Cook “absolutely DOES NOT want” what it’s like to be part of the IPL environment.“Alastair Cook absolutely LEAVES what it’s like to be in IPL…What it’s like to always be among the best players in the world. So his opinion on Jacob Bethell doesn’t matter at all. Stay in India Jacob. I know even when you’re not playing you’re learning and you’ll be a much better player,” Pietersen wrote on X.Weeks later, Cook revisited the topic on the Stick to Cricket podcast and delivered another sharp response, suggesting that the financial pull of the IPL makes criticism difficult.
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What should Jacob Bethell’s next move be?
“I’ve just given my opinion and I can justify it by the fact that he wasn’t playing at the time. He also went to the IPL last year and didn’t play either, so he’s had that advantage once or twice. I think he could have come back and actually played some cricket. The irony is that when all this came out, he’s playing a bit now,” Cook said.Cook went on to emphasize that development ultimately depends on playing matches rather than simply watching from the sidelines.”Okay, I understand the other argument that I will learn from it, but there has to be a stage where you have to play like you can’t just learn from it, and I know the IPL is a great tournament, but also no one will ever say publicly that the IPL is not the right place because everyone knows it’s picking everyone’s pockets,” he added.
