The club vs country debate recently found a new lease of life when England legend Alastair Cook expressed his concerns over rising star Jacob Bethell spending his time on the bench during IPL 2026 when he could’ve
played county cricket to gear up for the New Zealand Test series in June. Bethell, widely tipped to be the future of England’s batting, though fulfilled his IPL contract with Royal Challengers Bengaluru before leaving for home and played in all three Tests of the New Zealand series.
Bethell featured in 7 of the 16 games that RCB played during the season as they successfully defended their title. He made 96 runs at a strike-rate of 124.67.
Cook‘s comment drew sharp responses including from another England legend Kevin Pietersen who claimed that even by being on the bench, Bethell will get better as he will be surrounded by world-class players.
Former India cricketer Dinesh Karthik, who is now associated with RCB as their mentor, defended Bethell. He wonders what happens if every player who has an IPL contract decides to not fulfil it if he doesn’t get to feature in any game.
“You (Cook) say he (Bethell) was just sitting there (during IPL), warming the bench. Now, he has a contract with RCB, which he chose to be part of. How do you dishonour that contract because you’re warming the bench?” Karthik said on The Overlap Cricket podcast on YouTube.
“So if every player decides to do that – ‘If you drop me, I am going back home’…I think you take a decision, ‘You know Phil Salt is there. I might not play, so I should get back home.’ Say it not before the season, but before you put your name in the auction. Choose. And then if you get here, decide to play (then) you can’t say, ‘Oh, I am not playing, I want to go home,'” he added.
Cook remained firm in his assessment though, saying for him England takes precedence over any other team.
“What I’m saying is, I think this is where it’s really important. I think it’s really important that English cricket (for me) is more important than the IPL or any franchise. That’s what I think, and apparently, I’m not allowed to think it because the IPL is the best tournament in the world,” Cook said.
“So Jacob Bethell, who sat on the bench the year before and learnt from all those players, is now also sitting on the bench and not playing. I’m sitting here going ‘My No. 3 for the side I actually really want to win, which is England – no disrespect to RCB and all those franchises – I want England to be the most successful side. Jacob Bethell is one hell of a talent and in the next 10 years, could be one of our most important players when Joe Root goes. I am sitting and going he’s not playing any red ball cricket and going to come back and face a decent New Zealand side without any practice which I don’t think that’s perfect,” he added.
