Batters from Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) aren’t doing so well in Australia. It was Virat Kohli in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 and now Jacob Bethell in the Big Bash League (BBL) 14. The case with Kohli was entirely different, as he’s 36 and was facing the likes of Pat Cummins, Scott Boland, and Mitchell Starc in what were extremely pacer-friendly conditions.
Jacob Bethell can’t buy a run in BBL 14
Bethell is playing in the BBL for the Melbourne Stars. The 21-year-old has been in woeful form. Now, T20 cricket is very mercurial. You see players losing and gaining form out of nowhere. A lack of runs doesn’t always mean you aren’t batting great, but in Bethell’s case, the issue seems different.
His strike rate isn’t even 110. And an even bigger worry is that he’s batting in the middle order. Slotted at four for the Melbourne Stars, he’s crossed the 30-run mark just twice and registered three single-digit scores.
Jacob Bethell’s BBL 14 stats
| Matches | Runs | Average | Strike Rate | Highest Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | 107 | 17.83 | 109.18 | 49 |
Why RCB needs Bethell in IPL 2025
The RCB has traditionally had a great batting line-up. It’s good this year as well but very top-loaded. You have Kohli, Rajat Patidar, and Phil Salt up top. But after that, they have just Bethell, Devdutt Padikkal, Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma, and Tim David.
Given the options, Bethell or Padikkal are going to be slotted at four. Padikkal’s T20 returns aren’t great, and now Bethell isn’t in form. Neither Livingstone, Jitesh, nor David can bat at numbers 4 or 5. If RCB’s top order fails, they won’t have anyone consistent enough to take them to the average score with two of three finishers slotted in their top seven.
RCB squad for IPL 2025
Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, Yash Dayal, Liam Livingstone✈️, Phil Salt (wk)✈️, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Josh Hazlewood✈️, Rasikh Dar Salam, Suyash Sharma, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Swapnil Singh, Tim David✈️, Romario Shepherd✈️, Nuwan Thushara✈️, Manoj Bhandage, Jacob Bethell✈️, Devdutt Padikkal, Swastik Chhikara, Lungi Ngidi ✈️, Abhinandan Singh, Mohit Rathee
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