Jacob Bethell is the young England batter giving India a headache this summer
England’s 22-year-old left-hander won the second T20I with an unbeaten 76 at Old Trafford, and his fast-rising career suggests India will be seeing plenty more of him.
Jul 7, 2026
Every touring side that comes to England looking for a new name to worry about tends to leave with one. This summer, for India, it is Jacob Bethell. The 22-year-old left-hander walked to the crease at Old Trafford with the second T20I in the balance and walked off unbeaten on 76, and in doing so he put England 1-0 up and put himself at the centre of a series India expected to be about their own young talent.
His innings was not a slog. Bethell made 76 not out off 46 balls with five fours and five sixes, pacing the chase rather than blazing at it, and when the pressure landed on Ravi Bishnoi he took the leg-spinner’s most important over apart. England got home with time to spare. India, who had hoped the rain-hit opener in Durham was just a slow start, suddenly found themselves behind and searching for answers.
A rise that has not slowed down
Bethell’s story is a familiar kind of unusual. He was born in Barbados and moved to England at 12 for school, came through the age groups at Warwickshire, and signed his first professional contract with them in early 2021. What has set him apart since is the speed of everything that followed.
By late 2024 he was making his Test debut against New Zealand at Hagley Oval, and rather than being eased in, he was handed the number three shirt while Ollie Pope shuffled down the order. He answered with a half-century in each of the three Tests on that tour. In September 2025 he became the youngest player to captain England’s T20I side, leading them against Ireland, and by early 2026 he had turned his promise into a maiden Test hundred, a 154 in the Ashes at Sydney. For a player who could still pass for a newcomer, he has already packed in a lot.
The player England kept betting on
What makes Bethell valuable to England is that he does not fit into one box. He bats in the top order across formats, offers left-arm spin as a genuine option rather than a token one, and fields as well as anyone in the side. That flexibility is exactly what a team rebuilding its white-ball group after a difficult couple of years has been crying out for, and it is why the selectors keep finding room for him even when the batting looks crowded.
He is not short of a stage elsewhere either. He plays his domestic white-ball cricket for Warwickshire and Birmingham Phoenix, and Royal Challengers Bengaluru hold his IPL contract, so Indian fans watching him tear into their bowlers at Old Trafford were not exactly seeing him for the first time. That familiarity may be part of what stings.
Trent Bridge is the next test
The series moves to Nottingham for the third T20I, and the ground has a reputation for giving batters plenty. If it plays the way Trent Bridge usually does, Bethell will fancy his chances of building on Manchester, and England will fancy going 2-0 up with two to play. India, trailing and rethinking their own line-up, need him to have an off night.
Young players get talked up all the time and most settle into being useful rather than special. Bethell still has to prove he belongs in the second group. But on the evidence of this series so far, England look like they have found someone who does not just survive these moments but goes looking for them, and that is a harder kind of player to plan around.