Jacob Bethell reacts after Alastair Cook and Kevin Pietersen get into fiery county championship vs IPL debate

However, with Salt getting injured, a spot opened up, and Bethell walked into the playing XI. Kevin Pietersen, also a former England captain, disagreed with Cook, saying Bethell would learn more by just being a part of the IPL setup.

All this while, Bethell didn't react. Still, finally, the left-handed batter broke his silence, saying that while everyone is allowed to have their opinions, he definitely is learning more by being in India and spending time with some of the biggest names.

“I definitely don’t think it’s going to hurt my career or stop me from getting better. I think it’s going to do the opposite. Everyone’s allowed to think what they want. That's absolutely fine. Everyone thinks differently, but from a personal point of view, I think I've made the right decision. At the end of the day, I'm pretty happy with where I am," he added.

“I never really feel like I'm fighting for a spot. At the end of the day, I haven't scored the runs I've wanted to. And that's not helped the team. My aim as a batter is to go out there and score runs and get us off to a good start, and I haven't done that,” said Bethell.

“So it's not from a place of looking behind my back and fighting for a spot, it's more from a hunger to actually contribute to this team. It doesn't feel good when you're not contributing to any wins. And especially now that we've lost the last couple of games, there's a burning desire in there to go out there and put in a match-winning performance,” he added.

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