England vs India 2018, 5th Test: The Current Indian Bowling Line is One of the Best I Have Faced - Moeen Ali

England all-rounder, Moeen Ali has called the current team India bowling attack as one of the very best he has ever faced. Moeen wasn’t at his fluent best on the opening day of the Oval Test.

However, he defied the Indian bowlers for 170 deliveries scoring just 50 runs. He also shared a 73-run partnership with Alastair Cook who is currently playing the final Test match of his career.

“I just tried to take it a ball at a time. I thought they bowled really well. The wicket was quite slow, but the ball was always doing something, so I just tried to stay as patient as I could. The Indian bowlers didn’t give me a lot to hit. So I just tried to bat. I don’t always play like that, but we were in a decent position,” Moeen Ali was quoted as saying after the day’s play.

“You’re always hoping to let them bowl and bowl. But they just kept coming, bowling same pace, same areas. It was one of the best bowling attacks I’ve faced. They were just always, consistently there.”

Meanwhile, the former England skipper, Alastair Cook scored 71 runs off 190 deliveries and also shared a 60-run partnership with Keaton Jennings. Earlier, Cook got dropped by Virat Kohli on 37. However, he couldn’t quite capitalise to score a memorable century.

However, England was in a comfortable position by the end of the second session. But they lost six wickets in the final session of the day which helped India take honours on the day one.

“When he got dropped, I just said it was meant to be for you. A player will come in to try and replace Cook, which will be very difficult. He was finding it difficult, probably not as easy as we thought it would be (on this wicket). There were some dents in the wicket.”

Moeen Ali says he prepared differently for the final Test

“I prepared differently this week than I would have done previously against a bit newer ball. It just gives you time to get your mind around batting at number three for England. I know I was dropped, I know I played and missed, but I just tried to bat. I’m always confident. There’s always good players, maybe some you don’t know about at the moment. Obviously, we don’t want these collapses at the time,” he said.

Ali played and missed on several occasions. It was very frustrating for the Indian bowlers especially Mohammed Shami. Moeen added he was perhaps not good enough to nick those deliveries.

“I probably wasn’t good enough to nick them. When I went into tea, the guys were calling me Geoffrey Boycott, then they came in, played and missed their first ball, and I was pretty happy with that.

“I’ve not done it (batting at number three) much for England, and I don’t see why I can’t bat there. I just go out and try to play according to the situation. I bat number three for Worcester and managed to score some runs (double hundred) there earlier this year. Why not?

“Sometimes, it’s a good thing. There are times when you can balance the team out, and you get into the side probably before most of the other guys. But there are times when you just feel you want a set batting position,” he signed off.

England is currently 198/7 with Jos Buttler and Adil Rashid at the crease.

However, Buttler had survived a couple of close shaves. The home team will want to take their total beyond the 250-mark. India will be upbeat of putting up an inspired performance especially given the fact that the pitch is very good to bat on.