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Former Indian wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik has defended the Indian Premier League (IPL) after young England batter Jacob Bethell came under heavy criticism for choosing Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) over county cricket.
Karthik made it clear that Bethell should not be made the villain. He admitted that the player is the one who always faces the heat. His comments came after several former England cricketers questioned Bethell's decision to stay with RCB during IPL 2026 instead of returning to play county cricket for Warwickshire before England's home Test series against New Zealand.
David Lloyd refuses to target Jacob Bethell, blames to ICC, BCCI and ECB in IPL controversy
Many former England legends and cricket experts believed Jacob Bethell should have prepared for the New Zealand Test series by playing county matches in England, as he was warming the bench at that time with the RCB during the IPL 2026.
After he struggled in the Test series and later picked up an injury, his RCB commitment in the IPL was blamed for the same. However, David Lloyd refused to blame Bethell. Amid this, Dinesh Karthik's funny exchange with Dewald Brevis goes viral.
The iconic commentator and umpire pointed the finger at the cricket administrators, including the ICC, BCCI, and ECB, saying they were responsible for creating a packed schedule where the IPL and international cricket clash.
David Lloyd said on the Stick to Cricket Podcast, "I think it's the schedule; it's the administrators that put... I have no blame on Jacob Bethell. It's under contract; it took a contract, but the administrators put the schedules together, and, you know, they're quite stubborn in that they won't change that. How many times have we said that? I'm not blaming the player.”
Dinesh Karthik fires back at David Lloyd
Well, Karthik agreed that Bethell was unfairly being targeted, but he attacked the England cricketers for finding reasons to blame the IPL whenever one of its players goes through the tough phase after the former England legend comments.
Dinesh Karthik said, “So, Bumble says it's not on the player, but sadly the player feels the heat; it is the truth.” To which Lloyd said, “Oh, it's a shame, because he's not.”
Dinesh Karthik drops truth on Jacob Bethell's criticism
Then, the real drama began as the former Indian cricketer lost his cool at the criticism of the IPL and RCB. He slammed the unfair criticism the IPL gets in England, saying people always blame the tournament whenever their player struggles after returning from India.
Karthik said on the podcast intensely, “England is getting to a point; for some strange reason, they're finding a way to hate the IPL, and I think that can be a bit unfair.
I know it's not watched voraciously in this part of the world, but the players do enjoy playing that tournament; it comes just before the summer, and I would like to think, if you do ask the players, that they do have a good time playing and they get better. I would like to think so.”
David Lloyd hits back after Dinesh Karthik's blistering remark
However, Lloyd disagreed with Karthik’s take on the matter. He defended the criticism by saying, “I'm going to disagree with you; I don't think we dislike the IPL, I really don't. Because we transmit it on TV here, and it's very well watched. There are loads of people that watch the IPL and talk about the IPL; I don't think we're critical of that.”
"England is finding a strange reason to hate the IPL." 😬 🇮🇳
— Stick to Cricket (@StickToCricket) July 23, 2026
Is the IPL disliked in England? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/QtU3hJrP5r
