Jacob Bethell has responded strongly to former England captain Alastair Cook after the latter made controversial comments about the all-rounder’s repeated snub in the Indian Premier League. The Royal Challengers Bengaluru have not yet used Bethell in their starting lineup during the active IPL 2026 season. The young England all-rounder smashed a stunning 105 off 48 balls against India in the semifinal of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026 last month. Bethell responded to Cook's criticism about his lack of playing time with RCB in IPL 2026 during his appearance on the Sky Sports Cricket Podcast. Bethell said: "I don't think there's a right or wrong way to do it. I think we've seen last year, for me personally, that by not playing cricket for a little while, I came into the end of that India series a bit undercooked, which was a learning for me to take on board." Cook had recommended to Bethell that he should not participate in IPL 2026 and should return to England to develop his skills in Test match cricket. He recommended that the young player should join Warwickshire County Cricket Club to play County cricket because he remains inactive in the RCB dugout. Speaking on The Overlap and Betfair’s Stick to Cricket podcast, Cook commented: “Bethell shouldn’t really be it because he’s not opening. He’s sitting on his arse at the IPL not doing anything. Ideally, he could come back and open for Warwickshire to help England.” He added: “It's something that not many people will understand how cool it is until actually being around a team or the tournament itself when you're here. It just has a completely different feel. It feels like everyone almost ups their game subconsciously without even really knowing because of the calibre of the tournament. I feel like that even happens when you're not on the starting XI or even starting XII as it might be now with the impact player.” Bethell shows a strong intention to remain in India for IPL 2026. The tournament rules make it impossible for him to exit the competition during its running time because he needs to present a legitimate excuse to do so. The Board of Control for Cricket in India will suspend him from IPL for two upcoming seasons if he chooses to leave the competition before its end. Read also: Colombo's SSC Ground to debut as SLC announces Lankan Premier League dates Ben Duckett, his England teammate, encountered an identical circumstance after he decided to skip IPL 2026, even though the Delhi Capitals had signed him. Bethell recently declared that he considers the IPL to be more important than English cricket because of a particular reason. He stated that he has gained valuable knowledge through the league despite his limited playing time with the team. The IPL experience which Bethell developed through his three years of work will help him to achieve better results with his future England international matches.