Royal Challengers Bengaluru southpaw Jacob Bethell will return to England due to a left finger injury he sustained in the league game against Punjab Kings on May 17 in IPL 2026. He will not feature for the defending champions in the upcoming playoffs. Bethell played in seven games for the franchise this season, scoring a total of 96 runs.
An ECB release stated that Bethell will now be under the supervision of the England Men’s medical team so that his availability for the first Test against New Zealand at Lord’s starting on June 4 can be determined.
Bethell missed RCB’s last league stage game against Sunrisers Hyderabad away from home due to this injury. In that fixture, RCB opened the batting with Venkatesh Iyer, who made a sizeable impact with a 19-ball 44. For the playoffs, RCB could also avail the services of Phil Salt, who is back with the team after missing a month of action due to a finger injury of his own.
Though RCB conceded the game in Hyderabad, they finished top of the points table to set up a Qualifier 1 clash against Gujarat Titans on May 26 in Dharamsala.
