I Am Officially Unretired - Moeen Ali Eager To Make A Test Comeback For England On Pakistan Tour

All-rounder Moeen Ali has come out of his Test retirement and ‘unretired’ himself ahead of England’s upcoming tour of Pakistan following a conversation on Sunday morning with England’s new head coach, Brendon McCullum.

Moeen called time on his Test career in September, after claiming 195 wickets in 64 Tests, as well as five centuries, saying at the time that he no longer felt able to “get in the zone” in the longest format of the game.

In 64 Tests, Moeen has scored 2914 runs at an average of 28.29 and a strike rate of 51.14 with five centuries and 14 half-centuries to show for his efforts. He also has 195 wickets to his name, including five five-wicket hauls and one 10-wicket haul.

He Is A Very Difficult Person To Say No To: Moeen Ali On Brendon McCullum

But after Brendon McCullum was named head coach of the England team, says his hunger for the longer format has been renewed. Moeen had added during his comments on Saturday that McCullum was “very hard to say no to”, and “we’re going to have a chat and see how it pans out”.

“I spoke to McCullum this morning, and we did discuss Pakistan this winter. The door is always open, and yeah, I suppose I am officially unretired. He is a very difficult person to say no to. I find that very, very hard. He is very convincing and to be honest I would love to play under him and Ben Stokes. They are both very aggressive and I think I would suit their cricket a bit more,” Moeen told BBC Test Match Special on Saturday during the ongoing Test between England and New Zealand at the Trent Bridge in Nottingham.

Moeen Ali, whose family hails from Pakistan, was eager to travel to Pakistan, which will be England’s first tour since 2005 and will be a rescheduled one as ECB had previously canceled their trip.

“When, or if, Baz McCullum wants me, I’ll definitely play in Pakistan. I have played Pakistan Super League out there a few years ago but it’s not the same. To travel with an England side there having family background from that part of the world will be amazing. It would be a historic event because of England not touring there for so many years. I know the support and love you can get out there, they love cricket. It’s really something that’s very appealing for sure,” Ali added.

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