Jacob Bethell has finally earned his chance in IPL 2026, being named in Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s XI for their clash with Gujarat Titans on Friday, April 24 at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. He replaced Phil Salt, who missed out due to injury. At the toss, captain Rajat Patidar confirmed that Bethell was the only change to the side.
Bethell’s inclusion comes amid a heated debate between former England batsmen Alastair Cook and Kevin Pietersen. As the youngster warmed the bench earlier, Cook suggested that regular game time in England would help his development better than sitting out the IPL.
RCB vs GT | Update | Scorecard
“He should be back playing county cricket rather than sitting on his *** in the IPL doing nothing,” Cook said on the Stick to Cricket podcast.
However, Pietersen, who is part of the IPL 2026 commentary panel, strongly disagreed. He defended Bethell’s decision to remain in IndiaHe claims the IPL environment provides invaluable learning opportunities even from the sidelines, despite Cook urging him to return to county cricket.
“Alastair Cook has absolutely NO NEED to be in the IPL,” Pietersen wrote on X.
Back in the 2025 mega auction, RCB bought Bethell for Rs 2.60 and played only two matches that season, scoring 67 runs at an average of 33.50.
RCB are currently third in the table with eight points and a net rate of +1.171 having won four of their six matches. They will be looking to bounce back from their six-wicket defeat to Delhi Capitals.
Playing XI for RCB vs GT
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar(c), Jitesh Sharma(w), Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood, Suyash Sharma, Rasikh Salam Dar
Impact PlayerCast: Jacob Bethell, Jordan Cox, Mangesh Yadav, Vicky Ostwal, Venkatesh Iyer
Gujarat Titans: Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill(c), Jos Buttler(w), Washington Sundar, Shahrukh Khan, Jason Holder, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Manav Suthar, Kagiso Rabada, Mohammed Siraj.
Impact Sub: Prasidh Krishna, Anuj Rawat, Glenn Phillips, Nishant Sindhu, Arshad Khan
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Issued by:
sabyasachi chowdhury
Published on:
24 Apr 2026 19:26 IST
