January 7, 2026 — It is day four of the fifth Ashes Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground. England has lost one of its openers in the very first over of its second innings, and finds itself 179 runs adrift with the threat of another chastening defeat looming large. At the fag end of an arduous tour that has elicited questions about everything from their preparation to philosophy — Australia retained the urn at the earliest possible opportunity in Adelaide, and was 3-1 ahead going into the final Test — the visitors could be excused for harbouring thoughts about the flight to return home. In walks Jacob Bethell and, far from folding without a fight, conjures up a sublime 154 off 265 balls at No. 3. It helps Ben Stokes and Co. post 342, and at least delay the inevitability of a 1-4 series defeat.

March 5, 2026 — The scene is the semifinal of the T20 World Cup at the bustling Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, and co-host India, aiming to become the first team to retain the crown in this format, has mounted a colossal total of 253 for seven in 20 overs. When it is Bethell’s turn at No. 4, England is wobbling once again at 38 for two with in-form skipper Harry Brook back in the shed — the requirement is a further 216 from 95 balls at an asking rate of 13.93 runs per over. Against an attack spearheaded by Jasprit Bumrah, vociferously backed by a sea of blue in the stands, Bethell clearly has his task cut out. But far from being overawed, he comes up with a chanceless 105 off 48 balls. England stays in the hunt till the final over, and in the end goes down by just seven runs.

In a nutshell, these two innings, in a span of two months across formats and conditions that are at opposite ends of the spectrum, vindicate the wave of excitement that has surrounded the 22-year-old over the past 18 months.

Bethell was clearly a diamond in the rough when he was blooded into the national set-up at 20 for a white-ball series against Australia in September 2024. But it was still a punt by the decision-makers in English cricket that could have not quite gone to plan, simply for the fact that he had never notched up a three-figure score in any format at the senior level. Cut to the present, he has well and truly got that monkey off his back, holding as he does now the unique distinction of scoring his maiden First Class, List A and T20 hundreds at the international stage. His first hundred in 50-over cricket came in an ODI against South Africa at Southampton in September last year.

To spread his wings and showcase himself to the world as an all-format force at a nascent stage of his career is a testament to his precocious skill. Let’s examine his pyrotechnics against India in Mumbai last week more closely.

With the required run rate having neared 14 upon his arrival, Bethell had to tee off immediately against a gun bowling unit. The southpaw reacted ever so promptly, whipping his second ball off Bumrah for a six over fine-leg. What followed was a stunning onslaught against Varun Chakaravarthy in the sixth over.

A little more than a year ago, the mystery spinner from Chennai had established a stranglehold over the English batters by snaring 14 wickets in a five-match T20I series at home. The tweaker’s form may have dipped at the T20 World Cup, but he was still the top-ranked bowler in the world in the shortest format. Yet, Bethell effortlessly toyed with Varun, greeting the 34-year-old with three consecutive maximums that sent the Wankhede crowd into a hushed silence.

The first two were slammed in the conventional ‘V’ down the ground, while the third came about via a cheeky reverse-sweep over backward point. As Bethell remarked later, his intention from the outset was to unsettle Varun regardless of the circumstances of the chase.

“Yeah, Chakaravarthy and Bumrah are two trump cards. To put pressure on Varun straightaway, I was going to do that anyway, no matter whether we were batting or bowling first. I probably wouldn’t have done it as quickly, you know, if we were chasing slightly less, but as soon as he’s defending, that’s when you’re winning. So, yeah, I managed to get that done pretty quickly,” Bethell, whose Bajan twang is a reminder of his upbringing in the Caribbean, said of his game-plan in a post-match interaction.

Class act

While a target of 254 proved a few too many ultimately, what set Bethell apart right through the pursuit was his unruffled demeanour. Even as wickets fell at the other end, not once did he seem to panic and attempt wild heaves or ungainly slogs. There was implicit trust in his ball-striking ability, which stems from a strong base that enables Bethell to hold his shape and exhibit an aerial extension of his orthodox shots.

If this was T20 batting at its finest, the Test ton in Australia in January was a demonstration of Bethell swaying to the tunes of the classical genre with equal ease. On a strip that was beginning to show signs of wear and tear under the Sydney sun, and on a tour where England’s more seasoned operators seemed to be caught in an identity crisis, the blonde-haired batter showed pristine clarity in his approach. He neither let bad balls go unpunished, nor was he lured into a moment of impetuosity against a persistent Australian pace battery. A touch of old-school fundamentals came to the fore as Bethell raised the three-figure mark in front of a packed crowd. Such versatility seems increasingly hard to find.

In a long winter where England’s flaws were manifold, Bethell’s rise was by far the biggest positive. Brook, who is another rare all-format star in the game today, was effusive in his assessment of his teammate after the semifinal loss in the T20 World Cup.

“He should be extremely proud of what he’s done tonight and this whole winter, and even into the back end of our summer, he’s been unbelievable. He’s going to have a hell of a career with England, and I’m looking forward to hopefully spending a lot of time with him in the future,” the English white-ball skipper told reporters in Mumbai.

With high praise flowing so quickly, there can be some apprehension of an impressionable lad succumbing to the pitfalls of stardom. But in Bethell’s case — he was endorsed by none other than Sir Garfield Sobers and Brian Lara as a special talent while growing up in Barbados — he comes across as a level-headed individual who can even take on a leadership role in the future. He was given a taste of that responsibility when he captained England in a T20I series against Ireland last year. Asked to reflect on his learnings in recent months, Bethell exuded a sense of satisfaction. “It’s been a good winter. Obviously this is a tough one to take, but, yeah, I’ve enjoyed every minute on the field playing for England, and that’s all I can really take from it. I think my game’s evolved a lot over the past six, seven months, and I’ll look to take that further,” he elaborated. “Both the hundreds came in losing causes, which is a weird feeling. Personal performances don’t always solidify into team performances. So, yeah, both of those are tough pills to swallow, but I’m very proud of the way I went about both knocks. Both are equally satisfying.”

Missed opportunity

As rapid as Bethell’s rise has been, England perhaps missed a trick by not starting with him in the five-Test series against India in its home summer last year. Having made his Test debut on a tour of New Zealand in late 2024, Bethell instantly impressed with three second-innings half-centuries. But by the time England next played a Test in May 2025 — against Zimbabwe in Nottingham — his IPL commitments with Royal Challengers Bengaluru mandated his absence from the five-day fixture. Ollie Pope returned to No. 3 and amassed 171, consigning the all-rounder — he also bowls left-arm orthodox spin — to carry drinks for the first four Tests against the Shubman Gill-led outfit.

When Bethell was drafted in as a replacement for the injured Stokes for the finale at The Oval, he was visibly rusty at No. 6, scratching around for returns of six and five across the two innings as the tourists drew the series. For the beginning of the Ashes, Bethell was back to the bench, and only given a look-in after Pope’s abject run in the first three Tests.

The youngster has no regrets about his decision to stay back in India for last year’s IPL. Though he featured in just two games for eventual champion RCB, he treasured the opportunity to bat and share a dressing room alongside Virat Kohli. “I wouldn’t say I gave it away at the IPL,” he told Australia’s Fox Cricket after his Test hundred at the SCG. “That experience I had over there was unbelievable… I came back a better cricketer.”

When the new IPL season kicks off in just over a couple of weeks from now, Bethell will be going back to the RCB camp as an even better cricketer.