RCB's new recruit ruled out of Chennai T20I vs India, Jos Buttler reveals reason

The 21-year-old England National Cricket Team all-rounder Jacob Bethell has been ruled out of the second T20I of the five-match series against India National Cricket Team, which is currently underway at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai on Saturday, January 25.

Jacob Bethell is a talented all-rounder, who was signed by Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) at the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 mega auction. He set his base price as INR 1.25 crore and after a battle with Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) and Punjab Kings (PBKS), RCB roped him in for INR 2.60 crore.

Also Read: Yashasvi Jaiswal kicked aside, Sanju Samson picked as Suryakumar Yadav names future T20 greats

Jamie Smith replaces RCB's new recruit Jacob Bethell in the second T20I

England National Cricket Team made two changes to their playing XI for the second T20I against India National Cricket Team. Jamie Smith and Brydon Carse replaced Jacob Bethell and Gus Atkinson in the line-up.

Notably, Atkinson had a horrible day on the field in the T20I series opener as he was taken to cleaners by the explosive India batter Sanju Samson, who hit the pacer for 22 runs in one over. Overall, Gus Atkinson bowled 2 overs and conceded 38 runs.

Jamie Smith is making his T20I debut against the Men In Blue. The 24-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman has already played 9 Tests and 7 ODIs for the Three Lions but is playing T20I for the first time. He was handed his T20I debut cap by his Surrey teammate Gus Atkinson.

🔁 Two changes from the first T20I

➡️ Carse and Smith come in for Atkinson and Bethell

🧢 Jamie Smith makes his T20I debut

🪙 India win the toss and choose to bowl first pic.twitter.com/HbpelgoWHY

— England Cricket (@englandcricket) January 25, 2025

Jacob Bethell is unwell - Jos Buttler

Jos Buttler lost the toss and speaking to presenter Ravi Shastri, he revealed about the changes to their line-up.

The England captain also revealed the reason behind Jacob Bethell's absence from the playing XI, saying that the youngster was unwell and wasn't fully fit to compete.

"We would have bowled first as well. Same game plans, look to do better. Hopefully, it'll be a good pitch and match. Bethell is unwell, and Jamie Smith comes in. Atkinson misses out, Carse comes in," the English skipper Jos Buttler said at the toss.

Talking further about Jacob Bethell, the youngster has represented Team England at the international level across all three formats and is looked at as the future superstar.

Jacob Bethell has featured in 3 Tests, scoring 260 runs and picking 3 wickets. The all-rounder has played 8 ODIs, scoring 167 runs and bagging 4 wickets. Also, in 8 T20Is, he has scored 180 runs and is yet to bag a wicket.

He wasn't able to make an impact in the first T20I against India at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata and chipped in with just 7 runs.

IND vs ENG 2nd T20I Playing XIs

England (Playing XI): Ben Duckett, Philip Salt(w), Jos Buttler(c), Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Jamie Smith, Jamie Overton, Brydon Carse, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood

India (Playing XI): Sanju Samson(w), Abhishek Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav(c), Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Washington Sundar, Dhruv Jurel, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakravarthy