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Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) roped in three England players in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 mega auction. While Phil Salt and Liam Livingstone are proven performers, the lesser-known pick was Jacob Bethell, the 21-year-old all-rounder who is set to make his Test debut against New Zealand. Salt praised Bethell who was snapped up by RCB for Rs 2.6 crore. While RCB's auction strategy has been under the scanner, Salt wants people to watch what Bethell can do on YouTube as it will answer their questions.
"Go on YouTube and have a look. I don't think you'll be disappointed. I'm getting sick of speaking highly of him at this point, but he's a great player and a great lad. He thinks about the game in the right way, he's very committed, and there's not many people out there that have the skill that he's got," Salt was quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo.
Bethell's name came on Day 2 of the auction when franchise did not have enough money to splurge. The left-handed batter started a mini-bidding war between RCB, Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) and Punjab Kings (PBKS). He had opted for a base price of Rs 1.25 crore.
While Bethell will bat at no.3 on his Test debut, he has been impressive in T20Is in middle order. The southpaw has scored 173 runs from six innings at an average of 57.66 including two half-centuries. He can be used a floater by RCB according to match-ups. The youngster was menacing against leg-spinner Adam Zampa, smashing huge sixes. At M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, he will be expected to exploit the short boundaries.
Former RCB player Glenn Maxwell thinks highly of Bethell as well. This time around RCB did not go all out for star players but opted for utility players.
RCB IPL 2025 squad -
Virat Kohli, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Krunal Pandya, Rajat Patidar, Yash Dayal, Liam Livingstone, Phil Salt, Jitesh Sharma, Josh Hazlewood, Rasikh Dar, Swapnil Singh, Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Manoj Bhandage, Jacob Bethell, Devdutt Padikkal, Swastik Chhikara, Lungi Ngidi, Abhinandan Singh, Mohit Rathee, and Suyash Sharma.
