Young England allrounder recently became the latest of the England players to have an Indian Premier League (IPL) contract. Bethell was signed by Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) for INR 2.60 crore in the IPL 2025 Auction, which concluded recently in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
The 21-year-old has expressed his excitement to join the league full of legends. However, the youngster is mostly excited to share the dressing room with the star India cricketer Virat Kohli, who also plays for RCB.
Bethell entered the IPL 2025 auction with a base price of INR 1.25 crore. Three teams showed interest in signing him – Sunrisers Hyderabad, Punjab Kings, and Royal Challengers Bengaluru. However, RCB put in the highest bid and managed to sign the England youngster.
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Jacob Bethell breaks silence on sharing the dressing room with Virat Kohli
When asked about playing alongside Virat Kohli, Jacob Bethell claimed that it would do a world of good for him and he would return with a wealth of experience
“I think it will do a lot for me. It’s a bit of a given, isn’t it!? Virat Kohli. He’s a great of the game – King Kohli. Any kind of young overseas player who has gone over has come back with a wealth of experience,” Bethell was quoted as saying by News 18.
It will be Jacob Bethell’s first ever IPL experience and the youngster is excited for his new journey. He is a useful white-ball cricketer with the ability to score runs quickly and bowl useful overs with the left-arm spin.
Andy Flower on Jacob Bethell
RCB’s head coach Andy Flower also hailed the signing of Jacob Bethell and claimed that he will entertain the crowd with his strokeplay.
“Jacob Bethell is a guy with a very high ceiling. I think when he plays, our fans will love watching him play. Not only will he be important for us as a batsman this year but there’s a potential for him to grow and then for us to get reward in the coming years as well,” Flower said.
The year 2024 has been a breakthrough year for the young England allrounder. He performed exceedingly well in the Hundred and the T20 Blas for his side Warwickshire and was thus selected to play for England in all the formats.
Excellent year for Jacob Bethell
Most recently, he was given his maiden Test cap during England’s first Test against New Zealand at Christchurch. He was promoted to bat at the crucial No. 3 position with Ollie Pope sliding down to No. 6 as a wicketkeeper.
Jacob Bethell failed to make a mark in the first innings but smashed a free-flowing 50 off just 37 balls in the second innings. His innings consisted of 8 fours and 1 six as England won the match by 8 wickets. Fittingly, he hit the winning runs as well.
Besides playing a solitary Test so far, Bethell has also played 8 ODIs and 7 T20Is so far. He has an excellent record in T20Is with 173 runs in 7 matches at an average of 57.66 and a strike rate of 167.96 with 2 fifties to his name.