How Moeen Ali Became England’s Unwritten Leader
How British Asian Moeen Ali Became England’s Unwritten Leader
Ben Stokes, Moeen Ali’s teammate in the England team, has not been in good form recently, especially in T20 cricket.
No runs with the bat, did not do anything extraordinary with the ball.
Moeen Ali comes here as the savior of Ben Stokes, “Ben will run.”
This was the headline in England’s The Guardian.
When Moeen Ali announced that Ben Stokes had the whole team by his side, it felt like Moeen Ali was a mentor to the team, holding the old and the new together.
There have been many changes in England’s Test team in the last one year, Eoin Morgan has retired from T20 and ODIs. Jason Roy is not getting runs with the bat like before.
There is only Moeen Ali as before.
Who has recently won a 7-match T20 series in Pakistan with an England T20 team as captain.
“We are dangerous,” he declared after winning against the host team on Pakistani soil.
The England team can literally pose a threat to the opposition. It has already been shown in two matches.
For example, against Pakistan in Lahore, England chased 170 runs in 14 overs with three balls.
Again, in the first match of the three-match series against Australia, Jos Buttler and Alex Hales made a partnership of 132 runs in 11 overs.
Moeen Ali is an important member of this party, a leader and an experienced campaigner.
Who is ‘proud’ to be England’s interim captain.
How has Moeen Ali performed recently?
In July this year, Moeen Ali played an innings of 52 runs off 18 balls against South Africa.
Formed a partnership of 106 off 35 balls with Jonny Bairstow – a record in T20 International cricket.
England played 13 T20 matches from July to the start of the World Cup.
Moeen Ali is the best batsman in England during this period.
He scored 279 runs in 13 matches at a strike rate of 171.
David Malan scored more runs than him but far behind in average and strike rate.
No one hit more sixes for England during this period than Moeen Ali.
Moeen Ali has scored three fifties in these 13 matches, apart from a 27-ball 44 innings against Australia.
Before the Pakistan series, Moeen Ali also captained a T20I series in the West Indies earlier in the year.
In the fourth match of the series at Bridgetown, he almost single-handedly won the match with 63 runs from 28 balls and 2 wickets.
Moeen Ali was unstoppable when quick runs were needed in the latter overs of the innings, taking 28 runs in an over that day at Bridgetown.
Short format Moeen Ali is decorated with such innings.
An analysis by cricket statistician Gaurav Sundararaman in 2020 revealed why Moeen Ali is such an influential T20 cricketer.
Looking at the statistics of 29 T20 matches of the 2019-20 season, he saw that Moeen Ali is also in the list of influential and consistently good cricketers along with Andre Russell, Sunil Narine or Glenn Maxwell.
After retiring from Test cricket in 2021 at the age of 34, he played an innings of 77 off 23 balls while playing the Abu Dhabi T-Ten.
He then said, ‘I feel unshackled after quitting Test cricket’.
Moeen Ali thinks that all cricketers need to play selectively at this time.
He considers it a burden to continue cricket in three formats in particular.
After Ben Stokes retired from ODI cricket, Moeen Ali opined, ‘ODI cricket will soon lose importance to cricketers’.
Moeen Ali is now an ‘honorary citizen’ of England
In a column by ESPNcricinfo writer George Dobell, he praised Moeen Ali’s selfless attitude.
He has played various roles according to the needs of the team.
In June this year, Moeen Ali received the ‘Order of the British Empire’ – OBE on Queen Elizabeth II’s birthday.
He received this title because of his contribution to white ball cricket in England.
In an interview with the British daily The Guardian, Moeen Ali said at the time that his recognition was a big win for the British Asian community, ‘who are still struggling to find a place in the mainstream of England’.
Moeen Ali’s grandfather emigrated from Kashmir to England shortly after World War II, where his mother was born.
“It’s an acknowledgment of my journey,” Moeen Ali feels.
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