RCB new recruit Jacob Bethell’s straightforward response to teaming up with Virat Kohli in IPL 2025

England’s young batting sensation Jacob Bethell opened up on getting signed by Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the recent IPL 2025 mega auction.

Bethell will be playing alongside Indian batting maestro Virat Kohli in the cash-rich league. The 21-year-old grabbed the attention of the IPL franchises despite having limited experience of playing just 7 T20Is.

The left-handed batter set his base price for INR 1.25 crore as Sunrisers Hyderabad made the initial bid for him, and RCB joined the race and engaged in the bidding war with the 2016 champions. Meanwhile, RCB eventually overbid Punjab Kings to sign the Englishman for INR 2.60 crore.

When Bethell was asked who he was looking forward to playing with at RCB, he gave a straightforward answer: Virat Kohli.

“I think it will do a lot for me. It’s a bit of a given, isn’t it!? Virat Kohli. He’s a great of the game – King Kohli. Any kind of young overseas player who has gone over has come back with a wealth of experience,” Bethell told ESPNCricinfo.

Bethell, recently, made his Test debut for England and was used at the number three spot instead of vice-captain Ollie Pope.

The 21-year-old hopes to have a chance to continue in the number three spot as his game perfectly suits the demands of the position.

“I like batting up the order so, yeah, I was really happy that opportunity arose. I’ve always wanted to bat in the top four so three is perfect,” he said.

“I think my game is fit to play any style. On Sunday we saw a bit more of an attacking style. I can also absorb a bit of pressure, so I’m sure at times in my career there will be times to do that as well,” he added.

Bethell opens up on his Test debut

In his debut Test for England, Bethell fell flat in the first innings after managing just 10 from 34 deliveries. However, he broke the shackles in the second innings and smashed an unbeaten 50 in just 37 balls which took England to a comfortable 8-wicket success over New Zealand.

“That’s part of the game, isn’t it? I saw it [as] if I got through to lunch, it looked like a different pitch after lunch. It does help when you’ve got Harry Brook batting, he makes it look quite easy,” Bethell said about his outing in the first innings.

“I think it could have been a different story, I battled hard and unluckily didn’t make it through to lunch but another day you get through and go on to make a big one,” he added.