Moeen Ali Feels He Should Have Been Dropped from the Test Side Earlier

It was very recently during the Test series against New Zealand in Christchurch that English skipper Joe Root went up to Moeen Ali and said he wouldn’t be part of the final instalment of the indifferent winter England had especially in Tests.

Moeen never got dropped from the side in any of the 50 matches he had played since his debut.

However, Moeen thanked Root for his honesty and sticking by him for a long time. Moeen himself felt he should have been dropped from the side earlier.

“When I didn’t play the last Test in New Zealand it was a relief’ said Moeen Ali at the Taj Bengal on Mumbai. Moeen Ali is part of the Royal Challengers Bangalore squad in the ongoing edition of IPL. “I could have been dropped three Tests earlier – I probably should have been – but Joe said he sees me as a match-winner and, with 50 matches of experience, they wanted to give me a longer run. It was almost like: ‘Right, now I can actually work on my game and mentally have a break from the pressure of playing.’ When it’s my time again, I will be ready.”

However, the big question is that how did the situation arise. It was only in 2017 that Moeen was an integral member of the England year.

He also won the Man of the Series award during England’s series victory in South Africa. His tally of 252 runs and 25 wickets which included a hat-trick was an English record for an all-rounder over four Tests.

The Ashes, however, turned out to be a different story for Moeen. He averaged a below par 19 with the bat and 115 with the ball, as England surrender the Ashes by a 4-0 margin.

“I have been up and down the batting order, and it’s difficult. People don’t always realise that. If you look at my last 18 months, I went to from batting four and five in India – scoring two hundreds – then to No seven as the second spinner at home before dropping to No 8. When we got to Australia I was down to bat six, then went to seven when the series started. You don’t really know your role.

“You do your best, but I think I’m going to try and get back in as a batsman first, spinner second. The problem is because I have played more than others – say if Jack Leach is in the same team, or Liam Dawson or Adil Rashid before – I’ll still get seen as the senior spinner because I’m more experienced.”

Has he been too nice for his own good? “I have been told in the past that’s my downfall, but I’d rather be too nice, to be honest. I set out in cricket to make friends. I’d rather people say they enjoyed playing with him and he’s a good guy, not he’s a good player but a bit of a so and so.”

Also Read: England Were ‘Curious’ About Potential Ball-Tampering from Australia During Ashes – Alastair Cook

Would have played IPL for free

Moeen further stated he would have played the IPL if he was asked to do so.

“If you asked me to play in the IPL for free, I would have done. His auction price was £187,000 which was seven times that of the base price of Ben Stokes.

“I literally would have come for the experience, especially with the players at RCB like Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Brendon McCullum and Quinton de Kock.

“And I’m wanting to train all of the time. Even today we’re not down to, but I have asked to do some extra time. Sometimes in the same environment, you maybe lose a bit of that. So I think the IPL has come at a great time, getting different ideas from new voices.”

Such as? “For example, I have never worked on power-hitting. I’ve just always batted, and when days have gone my way, it’s been nice. But with Trent Woodhill, one of the coaches, I’m learning different ways to hit the ball.

“In Twenty20 it’s not always about straight drives and high elbows. It’s amazing how far you can hit the ball. I’ve always been able to hit the ball far but not consistently like I have in practice over here. I’m enjoying it so much.”

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