All-rounder Jacob Bethell, who joined Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) for INR 2.60 crore, is likely to miss the tournament if he fails to recover from the hamstring injury he sustained during the England tour of India 2025.
Due to his injury, England captain Jos Buttler has confirmed that Bethell will probably miss the Champions Trophy in Pakistan. The left-handed batter has played 63 T20s and has scored 1127 runs at a strike rate of 136.77. He also comes in handy with the ball.
If he skips the IPL 2025 due to injury, the franchise will look for a possible replacement for the upcoming 18th season of the cash-rich T20 league. With yet to make his IPL debut, Bethell has only less than two months to recover from the injury.
Listed below are some of the players who could replace Jacob Bethell in IPL 2025.
Dewald Brevis (South Africa)
Dewald Brevis who was released by the Mumbai Indians ahead of the auction went unsold in the auction. Played 10 matches across 2022 and 2024 season, he has scored 230 runs in his IPL career.
However, the 21-year old displayed a fine form while playing for MI Cape Town in the SA20 2025 season.
He scored 291 runs from 12 games at an average of 48.50 and a strikerate of 184.17. Brevis played 81 T20s and has piled on 1787 runs with one hundred and seven half-centuries at a strike rate of 144.93.
Shai Hope (West Indies)
Shai Hope who is in red-hot form and could be a potential replacement due to his ability to play spin. Recently he had an excellent campaign in the ILT20, where he was the leading run scorer with 527 run at an average of 58.55.
Hope who played for Delhi Capitals last year, where he scored 183 runs at a strike rate of 150 in 9 matches. However he went unsold in the IPL 2025 auction.
Cooper Connolly (Australia)
The 21 year old Cooper Connolly could be a like-for-like replacement for Jacob Bethell. Connolly is a left-handed batter and bowls left-arm orthodox spin as well.
Connolly has played 27 T20s and has scored 577 runs at an average of 38.46 and a strike rate of 136.72. He also picked up 12 wickets with the ball, proving his ability as a utility cricketer.
He had an impressive season in BBL 2024-25 and scored 351 runs from 10 games for th Perth Scorchers at an average of 50.14 and a strike rate of 131.46. But unfortunately he went unsold in 2025 auction for a base price of INr 75,000.
