ENG vs IND 2018: Promoting Moeen Ali Was A Pure Tactical Decision, Says Jos Buttler

Jos Buttler, on Saturday, said promoting Moeen Ali to number three in the second innings of the fourth England vs India Test was a tactical move taken to make the most of the allrounder’s good form.

Moeen made his comeback to the playing eleven in the ongoing game. The allrounder returned after scoring a double hundred for Worcestershire against Yorkshire in the County Championship, batting at number three. And he made an instant impact in the first innings, scoring a crucial 40 while batting at number seven in the first innings.

England then decided to solve their top-order woes by promoting the in-form allrounder to number 3. However, the move backfired badly. On the second ball he faced, he edged one to the slip but it luckily did not carry to the fielders and ran away to the boundary ropes. But Ali couldn’t ride his luck for long and departed after adding just 5 more runs. The allrounder ended up edging an Ishant Sharma delivery behind the stumps where Rahul took a brilliant catch diving forward.

His promotion to number three, nonetheless, allowed Joe Root to bat at number four. It is a position that the England skipper relishes as he averages 13 runs more than when he bats at three. On the other hand, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes and Buttler all moved down one position in the order from the first innings to positions they are arguably better suited. But it looks like the move is not going to be a permanent one as Buttler made it clear.

Speaking after the day’s play, Buttler said it was just a tactical decision.

“It was a pure tactical decision after Moeen has been in such fantastic form in the last few weeks,” Buttler explained. “He bats at number three for Worcester. And we felt he was playing so well that it was a nice move for him to bat at three. He was told last evening.”

Buttler was also not clear on what to say when asked whether the move was a permanent one or just for this game. England’s top-order has endured a wretched time in the last couple of years. The opening pair has looked unsettled while Root has not quite enjoyed batting at number three.

“I’m not sure moving forward what will happen but tactically for today, it felt like the right decision,” Buttler said. “I thought he [Root] batted fantastically well today. People will debate a lot where his best position is but it could be the matter of a difference of one ball so I don’t think for a world-class player like Joe it affects him too much.”

Coming to the game, England finished day four in the driver’s seat. Riding on Buttler’s fantastic fifty, the hosts were 260 for 8, with their overall lead extended to 233.