Jacob Bethell has not played since his 91 against India at Lord’s, and his knee has ruled him out in Australia
A setback in training in Perth has sent England’s batter home to see a specialist, with RCB’s IPL 2027 retention list due on 17 November.
Nov 11, 2026
Jacob Bethell was supposed to play his first competitive game since July in Perth on Friday. He is going home instead. England have ruled him out of their whole white-ball tour of Australia, three ODIs and five T20Is, after a scan on his right knee.
It is the knee that started bothering him at Lord’s on 19 July, in the ODI against India where he made 91 and was player of the match. It needed surgery later in the English summer. Early this week, at a training session in Perth, it flared up again.
The ECB said he will return to the UK on Saturday before seeing a specialist.
Coles and Jack fly in
Sussex all-rounder James Coles and uncapped Hampshire seamer Eddie Jack have been called into the ODI squad and are due in Perth on Thursday. They cover for Bethell and for Josh Tongue, who was ruled out earlier with a left big toe injury he picked up in Pakistan last month. Two players gone before the first ball is a poor start to a tour.
The ODIs are in Perth on 13 November, Adelaide on the 15th and Hobart on the 18th. The five T20Is run from Melbourne on 21 November to Canberra on 2 December.
South Africa is the bigger worry
Bethell is still in England’s 15-man squad for the three Tests in South Africa. The first starts in Johannesburg on 17 December, and there is a warm-up against a CSA XI in Durban from 9 December. Everything there now waits on the specialist. If he cannot play in Durban, it is hard to see England throwing him straight into a Test at the Wanderers after five months without a game.
An awkward week for RCB
Indian fans know him well. He made 105 off 48 balls against India in the T20 World Cup semi-final at the Wankhede in March, reaching three figures in 45 balls, the second-fastest hundred in the tournament’s history. England still lost by seven runs. Royal Challengers Bengaluru bought him for ₹2.6 crore at the IPL 2025 mega auction, and he opened with Virat Kohli in IPL 2026, though he managed only 96 runs in seven games before a finger injury ended his season early.
Franchises have until 17 November to submit their retention lists for IPL 2027, after the BCCI pushed the deadline back by two days. A thin IPL season and a knee waiting on a specialist, six days before that deadline, is not what RCB wanted to hear. I would still be surprised if the knee alone cost him his place. He is 23, and the next IPL is months away.