This young all-rounder showed some promise against India in Nagpur after struggling to hit his stride in the recently-concluded five-match T20I series. The 21-year-old struck a half-century on Thursday and picked up the vital wicket of Shreyas Iyer. This month, he will head to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy before returning to India in March for his maiden taste of IPL cricket. To the uninitiated, Bethell was bought by the Royal Challengers Bengaluru for a whopping Rs 2.2 crore at the IPL 2025 mega auction.
“You just can look forward to joining in, and I’ve felt all the love emanating from RCB fans since my signing,” Bethell said, after the first ODI.
RCB is a fabulous franchise, and I’ve felt the love over here. Every ground I’ve been at, as soon as I step on the park, they’re chanting: RCB, RCB. There is indeed a huge amount of support, Bethell told The Daily Mail.
Bethell, recently meeting Kohli for the first time, gushed about how cool it would be to play alongside the former RCB captain. It would be so great to play with such players.”
Bethell considers himself a real all-rounder, someone who could be beneficial for England and RCB in different ways over the next three months or so.
“Once you step onto the field with your opponent, you realize you are both on the same ground and are both capable of making mistakes. They, however, have obviously improved at not making those mistakes,” Bethell explained.
“I see myself purely as an all-rounder. I will take that opportunity whenever I get to bowl, to stake a claim, and put us in good stead. That’s a massive part of my package.”
Jos Buttler, England captain, praised Bethell, who has already made his name in all formats for England.
“I was watching him bat and thinking, ‘I couldn’t have forgotten how to bat until I was around 21-I think I took the age of about 28 to learn it.’ I am really pleased for him. The start was not easy, but he was very mature, measured in taking pressure upon him and came through really well with a mature innings to reflect on this and take from it all the good experiences he can,” Buttler said.
