Jacob Bethell was ruled out of Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s final league match of IPL 2026 against Sunrisers Hyderabad. Skipper Rajat Patidar, who replaced him said at the toss that the English batter has been sidelined because of a finger injury.
Former England captain Michael Vaughan said if he is injured then he should board the first flight and fly back to England.
“If Jacob Bethell’s injured, he should be on the next plane home to England. England plays a Test match on June 4th, making sure that, you know, England has a look at him before potentially, to see if he is fit or not going to be fit for the Test match against New Zealand. I would think he’s better off back in the UK, just getting assessed,” Vaughan said on Cricbuzz.
“I’m being a bit old school, I guess they’ll say he’s got to stay till the end, but if he’s not going to play for Royal Challengers Bengaluru, England have got a training camp this next week. He should be back home in the UK. You know I’m a big believer in the IPL. If you’re going to play, it grows your game massively. And obviously, when you’re a young player in the dressing room with lights, I completely get it.”
“As a young player, he was here last year, so he learned a lot. This year, he’s played a little bit, but hasn’t had a huge amount of success. But if he is injured, England has a training camp this week. Baz McCullum arrives in the UK on Sunday morning, and I think the training camp starts Monday. He should be back in the UK with the team,” he added.
Former India pacer Zaheer Khan, who too was part of the discussion panel, said Bethell might not want to accept a pay cut, especially with RCB heading into the playoffs.
“He’s been here enough. He can miss a week!” Vaughan replied.
