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In a major setback for England and Birmingham Phoenix, Jacob Bethell has withdrawn from the upcoming The Hundred 2026 after suffering a knee injury during the recent three-match ODI series against India at home.
The Birmingham Phoenix captain suffered the setback after playing a brilliant knock of 91 runs and also took two wickets as England beat India by 27 runs to win the ODI series at Lord’s. Earlier, Jacob Bethell makes honest admission about Virat Kohli's personality.
Jacob Bethell ruled out of The Hundred 2026 with knee injury
As reported by The Telegraph UK, Jacob Bethell injured his right knee during the recent ODI series against India. After England won the series 2-1 against India, the 22-year-old underwent an MRI scan on Monday (July 20) to find out how serious the injury is.
The England medical team is now waiting for the scan reports before making any call on his recovery period. But England has already decided not to take any risk with the young all-rounder because he is a very important player for the Test team and is expected to bat at No. 3.
With only one month left before the three-match Test series against Pakistan at home, the England cricket team management will be “hoping that he does not need surgery." If he does, England will have to find a new No. 3 batter along with a new Test captain and head coach.
And this may be the reason that Bethell has been pulled out of The Hundred 2026 as a precaution so that he can recover properly without taking any risk, despite the fact that the medical team has not gotten the scan reports yet.
Birmingham Phoenix suffered setback because of England's future captain!!
The Birmingham Phoenix captain suffered the setback after playing a brilliant knock of 91 runs and also took two wickets as England beat India by 27 runs to win the ODI series at Lord’s.
Well, The Hundred would have given Jacob Bethell a great chance to improve his captaincy skills. England sees him as a future captain and has already started preparing him for a leadership role. He even led England in a T20I 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 because of workload, Bethell could be one of the frontrunners for T20I captaincy. Meanwhile, The Hundred Teams & Squads 2026: Complete Players List, Captains, Coaches & 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 as well. 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 get underway on Tuesday, July 21, at The Oval, where MI London will face Manchester Super Giants in the opening match of the tournament.
This season will see two teams playing with new names after major ownership changes 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.
