Kevin Pietersen Hits Back At Alastair Cook For Telling Jacob Bethell To Leave IPL: ‘He Has NO IDEA…’

Kevin Pietersen lashed out at Alastair Cook for asking Jacob Bethell to leave IPL and play County Cricket. The talented Jacob Bethell has failed to make a cut to the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) playing XI in six matches of the IPL 2026. RCB has opted for Josh Hazlewood, Phil Salt, Romario Shepherd and Tim David as overseas picks, leaving Bethell out. Cook wasn’t impressed with Bethell doing nothing at RCB. He feels that Bethell could have a shot at opening for England against New Zealand, but is worried about his lack of form.

“For that top order batting, the way he played at Sydney, against that attack, in those conditions – I’ve looked at a player there and I’m certain this bloke can open. If he can bat three, he can open,” Cook said on the Stick to Cricket podcast.

“(But) it’s not ideal, is it? Bethell shouldn’t really be it, because he’s not opening. He’s sitting on his a*** at the IPL, not doing anything. Ideally he could come back and open for Warwickshire to help England.”

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Kevin Pietersen Responds

Meanwhile, Kevin Pietersen said that Cook has no idea what it’s like to be in the IPL, saying that his opinion on Bethell doesn’t matter. He supported Bethell’s stay in India and asked him to focus on IPL.

“Alastair Cook has absolutely NO IDEA what it’s like to be in the IPL. What’s it 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.

Jacob Bethell Reacts To Alastair Cook’s Criticism

Meanwhile, Bethell also reacted to the criticism by Cook and said staying in IPL, even when at bench, helps him become a better version of himself.

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“I don’t think there’s a right or wrong way to do it. I think we’ve seen last year, for me personally, that by not playing cricket for a little while, I came into the end of that India series a bit undercooked, which was a learning for me to take on board,” he said on Sky Sports Cricket Podcast.

“But actually, if you look at where I was last year after coming back from the IPL, I was flying, going into that West Indies series and I feel in a similar position now.

“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.

“It just has a completely different feel. It feels like everyone almost ups their game subconsciously without even really knowing because of the caliber of the tournament.

“I feel like that even happens when you’re not on the starting XI or even starting XII as it might be now with the impact player.”

Bethell said even when he is not in the playing XI, there are coaches and other players, and even the crowd, who are looking at you, which adds to pressure and helps in improving your game.

“You’ve got hundreds of eyes on you, albeit you either have your coaches or the other players who are also looking at you going, ‘Is this guy good? Is he not?’ You got the people in the crowd with the phones on.

“I think you get exposed to a lot of stuff.

“You might not get the amount of time in the middle as [you do] in County Championship playing four rounds of that. But I think in terms of the ability to actually just continue doing what you want to do when there are loads of eyes on you, is really important for me personally going forward,” he added.