Former England captain Sir Alastair Cook has continued his war of words with former England teammate Kevin Pietersen over the impact of the IPL on an English Test player’s career. The central focus of their debate remains fixed around England and RCB’s young “starboy” Jacob Bethell.
Over the past year, Bethell has graduated into becoming a first-choice player for England in all three formats of the game. But his opportunities at RCB have been few and far between because of the presence of stalwarts like Phil Salt and Tim David.
He could go to County Cricket instead of sitting on his a***- Alastair Cook
On the Stick to Cricket podcast, Cook had suggested that if Bethell was quite serious about properly locking in his spot in the English Test team, he should have returned from the IPL to play for Warwickshire in the County Championship instead.
Delhi Capitals’ Ben Duckett had pulled out of the IPL this year to play in the County Championship and focus on his England Test career. Cook said that Bethell should have followed his example instead of simply warming the benches for RCB.
Cook’s former teammate Kevin Pietersen had responded by writing, “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. 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.👍🏻” on his X account.
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.
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…— Kevin Pietersen🦏 (@KP24) April 23, 2026
Pietersen had also gone on to say “If County Cricket was as strong as it was in the late 90s and early 2000’s, I’d also want Bethell back playing it now. But it’s not. It’ll benefit England more by him being in India and he’s shown that.”
On the Sky Sports Podcast, Bethell himself had responded to Cook’s comments and said that, despite his opportunities being limited, he has learnt a lot by staying in India and in the IPL.
“I don’t think there’s a right or wrong way to do it. 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.”
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 had said at the time. He even said that the net sessions in the IPL arguably brought him more pressure than playing the County Championship would have.
Jacob Bethell’s IPL career
In 2025, Bethell played 2 IPL matches, while in 2026, he played 3. All 5 of these matches came when Phil Salt got injured. Last year, he made 67 runs in 2 matches with a half-century against CSK at an average of 33.50 and a strike rate of nearly 172.
In 2026, Bethell had only 39 runs in three matches at an average of 13, but has struck at 150. With Phil Salt back in the UK to tend to a finger injury, Bethell is likely to get more game time in this year’s IPL.
Sir Alastair Cook responds to Kevin Pietersen
In the Latest edition of the Stick To Cricket podcast, Cook responded to Pietersen’s comments about the strength of the County Championship. Apart from Alastair Cook himself, the podcast has former England greats Michael Vaughan, Phil Tufnell, and David Lloyd as panelists.
When asked to respond to Pietersen’s comments, Cook said “I can justify my thing. At the time, he wasn’t playing and all last year he went to the IPL and didn’t play [Bethell played two matches in 2025].”
“So he’s had the benefit of doing that once or twice, and I thought actually, in my opinion that he’s done a bit of that [playing in the IPL], now he could actually come back and play. Ironically now, since all of that has come out, he has played.”
Alastair Cook went on to talk about how just learning wasn’t going to do Bethell much good. “I get the other argument about learning, but there’s got to be a stage where you have to play. You can’t just learn.”
“I know the IPL’s a great tournament, but no one’s publicly ever gonna say [that] the IPL is not the place to be. Because everyone knows it lines their pockets,” he continued.
The IPL’s not that great- Alastair Cook
When asked whether Bethell’s franchise, RCB, and the England & Wales Cricket Board could have some communication between themselves to let Bethell come back, Cook said that that was never going to happen.
“They’ll just say he’s under contract. He’s the one who made that decision. He’s our player and we might not need him for 10 games, but there’s one game he has to play because someone’s injured, we signed him,” he said.
“I actually understand both sides. His argument about, he signed the contract two years ago, I’m gonna honor my contract. It’s quite hard for someone like me. I don’t know what the IPL’s like, and I quite clearly haven’t been there, but you hear some of the little undercurrents and think well it’s not quite as good as everyone says it is,” Cook continued.
“I’m not slagging off the IPL, but no one’s ever gonna say it’s terrible because they don’t want to ever upset their bosses, because they want another contract” Alastair Cook added.
