Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s Virat Kohli, right, and his batting partner Jacob Bethell run between the wickets during the Indian Premier League cricket match between Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Kolkata Knight Riders in Raipur, Wednesday, May 13, 2026. (AP Photo)

England batter Jacob Bethell is available for selection for the first Test against New Zealand starting on Thursday after recovering from the finger injury that forced him to leave IPL 2026 before the playoffs.Bethell had cut short his stint with IPL 2026 champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru so he could return home and be assessed by England’s medical team ahead of the New Zealand series.England head coach Brendon McCullum confirmed on Tuesday that the left-hander has fully recovered.“He was operating at gully in our training yesterday and he’s absolutely fine, so there’s no problems there,” McCullum said.“He should be able to bowl as well, which is quite handy for us to have another bowling option in the top order.”Bethell was one of England’s positives during the 4-1 Ashes defeat in Australia and scored a century in the Sydney Test. He has played six Tests so far and averages 43. His only previous Test appearance at home came against India last year, when he batted at No. 6 and scored 6 and 5.The 21-year-old is now set to bat at No. 3, replacing Ollie Pope. McCullum said Bethell has no shortage of preparation despite spending time in franchise cricket.“His game looks in good order,” he said, as quoted by news agency AP. “I’m sure working in India, I know it’s probably not ideal from a structure point of view and maybe not getting as much red-ball games under his belt, but he has a calm head and he’s a very methodical preparer in terms of the mental side of the game.”The England coach also spoke about the future of the team’s “Bazball” approach after the Ashes setback. He said England still want to maintain their identity but are looking to improve in key areas.“We still want to be recognizable from the past,” he said, “but we just want to hopefully be a cricket team which has evolved somewhat in some of the key areas where we’ve identified that we’ve fallen short previously. We want to be a team which is better under pressure, a team which can navigate tactically, that can understand where you sit in the game and what’s required.“We still want the identity of the past,” he added, “but we want a more refined version of it.”