Fresh from the high-paced world of the IPL and straight into a Player-of-the-Match performance at Edgbaston, Jacob Bethell’s rise in international cricket continues at speed. But the 21-year-old all-rounder’s only light-hearted gripe about his jet-setting lifestyle? Hotel beds.“A lot of them are way too soft,” Bethell quipped after smashing a blistering 82 in England’s dominant 238-run win over the West Indies in the first ODI. “I’ve got a bad back and I’m only 21, so we need to sort that out. I might have to walk around with some memory foam. But no, I’m enjoying it.”Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!Despite missing England’s recent Test series against Zimbabwe to warm the bench at Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Bethell insists the experience was far from wasted. He soaked up knowledge in the nets and watched closely as cricketing icon Virat Kohli went about his business.Who’s that IPL player?“I definitely feel like I got a lot better,” said Bethell. “Even though I only played two games, the training was intense — facing quality net bowlers and spinners every day. The way those guys think about playing spin — clinical and calculated — it was eye-opening.”
And then there was Kohli. “He’s got whatever you call it these days — ‘aura’. It’s electrifying walking out with him. He’s intense, but chilled off the field. I think he enjoys the overseas lads who don’t fuss around him much,” he added.
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