In a major blow for England and the Birmingham Phoenix, Jacob Bethel has pulled out of the upcoming The Hundred 2026 after suffering a knee injury during the recent three-match ODI series against India at home.
The Birmingham Phoenix skipper suffered the blow after playing a brilliant inning of 91 and also taking two wickets as England beat India by 27 runs to clinch the ODI series at Lord’s. Earlier, Jacob Bethel made an honest confession about Virat Kohli’s personality.
Jacob Bethel ruled out of The Hundred 2026 with knee injury
Jacob Bethel suffered a right knee injury during the recent ODI series against India, reports The Telegraph UK. After England won the series against India 2-1, the 22-year-old underwent an MRI scan on Monday (July 20) to determine the severity of the injury.
The England medical team is now waiting for the scan reports before taking any decision on his recovery period. But England have already decided not to take any risks with the young all-rounder as he is a very important player for the Test team and is expected to bat at No. 3.
With just a month to go before the start of the three-match Test series against Pakistan at home, the England cricket team management is “hoping he will not need surgery”. If he does so, England will have to find a new Test captain and head coach as well as a new No. 3 batsman.
And perhaps this is why Bethel has been ruled out of The Hundred 2026 as a precautionary measure so that he can recover properly without taking any risks, despite the fact that the medical team is yet to receive the scan report.
Birmingham Phoenix got a shock because of the future captain of England!!
The Birmingham Phoenix skipper suffered the blow after playing a brilliant inning of 91 and also taking two wickets as England beat India by 27 runs to clinch the ODI series at Lord’s.
Well, The Hundred would have given Jacob Bethel a great opportunity to improve his captaincy skills. England see him as a future captain and have also started grooming him for a leadership role. He also led England in the T20 series in Ireland last year.
If Harry Brook becomes England’s Test captain and the team management does not want him to lead all three formats due to workload, then Bethel could be one of the frontrunners for the T20I captaincy. Meanwhile, The Hundred teams and squads 2026: Complete list of players, captains, coaches and key players.
Ben Stokes skips The Hundred again as MI London and Manchester Super Giants begin new era
Meanwhile, former England Test captain and all-rounder Ben Stokes has also decided not to play in The Hundred this season. Instead, Stokes will represent Durham in the Metro Bank 50-over Cup. He also skipped the 100-ball tournament last year.
The sixth season of The Hundred will begin on Tuesday, July 21 at The Oval, where MI London will face Manchester Super Giants in the opening match of the tournament.
Two teams will play with new names this season following a major change in ownership earlier this year. MI London is now owned by the Ambani family’s Mumbai Indians group.
On the other hand, Manchester Super Giants is the new name of the former Manchester Originals after the franchise was bought by Sanjiv Goenka, who also owns the Lucknow Super Giants in the IPL and the Durban Super Giants franchise in South Africa’s SA20 league.
