4 min readMumbaiFeb 8, 2026 06:21 PM IST When Royal Challengers Bengaluru had signed up Jacob Bethell ahead of IPL 2025, the franchise’s spin bowling coach Malolan Rangarajan had made the bold claim, even before he had made his debut, that the young left-hander was “destined for greatness”. “I think England have a genuine superstar in the making and selfishly, as RCB, we’re very happy to have bought him slightly earlier in the cycle,” Rangarajan had said. On Sunday afternoon at a sun-baked Wankhede Stadium, Bethell offered a glimpse of why those words were spoken with such conviction. England may have stumbled early in their T20 World Cup opener against Nepal, but the 22-year-old used the early wobble as a stage to underline his growing maturity and range. The innings began shakily when Phil Salt fell inside the powerplay, and the pressure was immediate. Bethell responded in the only way he knew – by taking the game on. Facing off-spinner Sher Malla, he burst out of the blocks, striking two crisp fours and launching a …