Kevin Pietersen was not pleased by the comments made by Alastair Cook earlier this week, heading to his Twitter account to defend up and coming England star Jacob Bethell, and arguing for his case to stay on with Royal Challengers Bengaluru over the course of the IPL, even if it comes at the expense of playing time during the fresh County Championship back home in England.
Bethell, despite an impressive T20 World Cup, hasn’t been able to crack the RCB squad behind Tim David and Romario Shepherd, plus the Indian core of Padikkal and Rajat Patidar, both of whom are keeping him our.
Cook had seen Bethell’s situation and claimed the left-hander would be better off playing red ball cricket for Warwickshire back in England. After Bethell himself has defended his decision against Cook, Kevin Pietersen came to his support – the rare English cricketer who truly values the IPL to a great extent, who stuck up for the young star using his social media account.
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“Alastair Cook has absolutely NO IDEA what it’s like to be in the IPL. What’s it’s like to always be around the best players in the world,” said Pietersen of Cook, who undoubtedly in an English Test cricket legend but certainly not memorable for his cross-format skillset.
“So his opinion on Jacob Bethell doesn’t matter at all… Stay in India, Jacob. I know, even though you’re not playing, you’re learning and will be a way better player,” concluded Pietersen in support.
Bethell rare England all-format star in IPL
Pietersen was part of the Delhi Capitals dugout in 2025, and is part of the broadcasting team this year. One of the rare proponents of the IPL in English cricket, his sentiment regarding being surrounded by high-quality international players rung true for Bethell as well.
“I feel better now than I was a month ago after the World Cup, through just getting time around the guys over here and the pure standard of cricket in India and the IPL. It’s something that not many people will understand how cool it is until actually being around a team or the tournament itself when you’re here,” Bethell had said in his own defence on the Sky Cricket podcast.
“It just has a completely different feel. It feels like everyone almost ups their game subconsciously without even really knowing because of the calibre of the tournament,” he further explained. Bethell might not be able to crack the RCB XI just yet, but his presence as an England all-format star within the system is an indication of the depth at offer.
Bethell took a different approach compared to Ben Duckett, who pulled out from the DC squad before this year’s tournament, or Harry Brook, who did so last year. However, at 22 years old and off centuries in the Ashes and at the T20 World Cup, he is a talent who will only benefit from exposure at this stage of his career.