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On May 22, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) revealed that out-of-form Jacob Bethell has suffered a finger injury and will miss the match against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). Former England captain Michael Vaughan wants an injured Bethell to be ruled out of the remainder of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 and head home ahead of the Test series against New Zealand starting on June 4.
“If Jacob Bethell's injured, he should be on the next plane home to England," Vaughan said on Cricbuzz.
“England plays a Test match on June 4th, making sure that 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.”
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Vaughan understands the need to play with the squad till the end of IPL 2026. However, if he isn't playing, he should head back to England.
“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,” said the former England batter.
Vaughan ‘a big believer in the IPL’
Vaughan pointed at the experience Bethell has got from spending two seasons in RCB dressing room. In case of injury, he wants the youngster to link up with the England squad when the training camp starts on May 25 ahead of playoffs.
“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,” he said.
“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 further added.
Why Bethell’s unlikely to play in IPL 2026 playoffs?
Bethell is unlikely to get a game for the remainder of the IPL 2026. His replacement on May 22, Venkatesh Iyer scored a 19-ball 44. Bethell had earlier replaced an injured Phil Salt who has returned to the squad after recovering from finger injury. Salt was rested for SRH game as a precautionary move. He is likely to feature in the Qualifier 1 game on May 26 when RCB go up against GT.
Even if Salt doesn’t feature in the lineup, Iyer has been in form, scoring 158 runs from four innings at an average of 79 and strike rate of 177.52.
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