former england captain Alastair Cook took yet another pointed dig at his former teammate Kevin Peterson There is a controversy surrounding young batsman Jacob Bethell and his IPL career with Royal Challengers Bengaluru.The debate began after Cook suggested that Bethel consider cutting short his stay in IPL 2026 and return to county cricket, with Cook arguing that being on the bench would not help the youngster’s development. Despite Bethel’s stunning 45-ball century in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup semi-finals in 2026, Cook feels the southpaw needs regular game time rather than spending another largely unused season in the IPL setup.Speaking earlier on the Stick to Cricket podcast, Cook praised Bethell’s talent and backed him to become England’s top player of the future.“For top-order batting, the way he played in Sydney, in that situation against that attack… I looked at a player there and I’m sure this guy can open up. If he can hit three balls, he can open up,” Cook said.He also questioned the value of staying on the IPL bench during the crucial development phase.“(But) it’s not ideal, isn’t it? Bethel shouldn’t be like this because he’s not opening. He’s sitting in the IPL and doing nothing. Ideally, he could come back and open for Warwickshire and help England,” he added.However, Pietersen vehemently objected and gave a blunt response on social media, insisting that Cook had “no idea” what it was like to be part of an IPL environment. “Alastair Cook has no idea what it’s like to play in the IPL… what it’s like to be around the best players in the world all the time. So his opinion of Jacob Bethel didn’t matter at all. Stay in India, Jacob. I know that even if you’re not playing, you’re learning and becoming a better player. ” Peterson wrote on X.A few weeks later, Cook revisited the topic on the Stick to Cricket podcast and gave another scathing response, suggesting that the financial appeal of the Indian Premier League made criticism difficult.“I was just giving my opinion and I can back it up by saying he wasn’t playing at the time. He also played in the IPL last year but didn’t play a match either, so he’s already had the benefit of it once or twice. In my opinion, he could have come back and played some cricket. The irony is that now that all this has come out, he’s playing it a little bit,” Cook said.Cook further emphasized that development ultimately comes from playing, rather than just observing from the sidelines.“Well, I get another argument to learn from it but there has to be a phase where you have to play like you can’t just learn from it, I know IPL is a great tournament but also no one will openly say that IPL is not a place because everyone knows it makes money for everyone,” he added.
