Gavaskar hails Bethell's "extraordinary" ton in T20WC semi-final thriller

Bethell's emergence as England's next all-format superstar continued as after an outstanding Sydney Ashes Test century, another century at another big stage, the T20 World Cup semifinal against India in front of a packed Wankhede, showcased his elite-level technique, mindset and nerves of steel. Despite wickets falling on the other side, the left-hander was relentless in his assault, scoring a 48-ball 105, with eight fours and seven sixes, which included a brutal beating of number one T20I bowler, Varun Chakravarthy.

Speaking during the 'Cricket Live', JioStar expert Gavaskar said about the 22-year-old all-rounder, "With this century in the semi-final of a T20 World Cup against a team like India, Jacob Bethell showed that he belongs at this level. People have spoken very highly of him. We saw him in the Ashes series, coming in and scoring a hundred over there as well. To get a Test hundred in an Ashes series in Australia against Australia is something extraordinary. The Aussies never let you score an easy hundred. That series showed his class."

"Then subsequently, here at the Wankhede Stadium, the way he has batted was nothing short of extraordinary. We have seen him in the one-day matches. He has batted extremely well. But he was batting at five or six. Now he has been promoted to number four in T20I cricket. That makes the difference. If a couple of wickets fall early, it allows him to play more overs. And with the range of shots he has, he made batting look so easy. But sadly, despite scoring a hundred, Bethell was not able to help England get over the line," he added.

On Team India becoming the first team to defend their T20 World Cup title at home and become the most successful team in the tournament's history, Gavaskar said it would be special to have India lift the T20WC title at the home soil in front of home fans who cheer for Team India at every run scored, at every catch/wicket taken.

"Representing India in front of so many people is a blessing. It is a privilege. And that too in a World Cup, playing for India anytime is a surreal feeling. Talking about semi-finals at the Wankhede, India have not been very lucky here. In the 1987 World Cup semi-final against England, we lost. In the 2016 T20 World Cup semi-final against West Indies, we lost here as well. But let us not talk about luck. At the end of the day, you make your own luck. The other day in Kolkata, chasing 196 in a do-or-die match against the West Indies (in Super Eights) was not easy. The way Suryakumar Yadav and his boys did it showed great character, great determination, and a great desire to go all the way," he concluded.

Put to bat first, a fiery knock from Sanju Samson (89* in 42 balls, with eight fours and seven sixes) and cameos from Shivam Dube (43 in 25 balls, with a four and four sixes), Ishan Kishan (39 in 18 balls, with four boundaries), Hardik Pandya (27 in 12 balls, with three fours and two sixes) and Tilak Varma (21 in seven balls, with three sixes) took India to 253/7 in 20 overs.

Despite having England down at 95/4, India could not dominate them as Jacob Bethell (105 in 48 balls, with eight fours and seven sixes) and Will Jacks (35 in 20 balls, with four boundaries and two sixes) put a counter-attacking 77-run stand for the fifth wicket. Bethell continued to march on even after Jacks' dismissal and a fiery four-ball cameo of 19 from Jofra Archer took England really close, but not to the finishing line, ending at 246/7.

- ANI