‘I’M OLDER, WISER AND MORE CONFIDENT’
MOEEN ALI is making the most of the opportunities with the T20 World Cup coming up later in the year, as the all-rounder starred in England’s 45-run win against Pakistan in the second T20 International last Sunday (18).
It was for the first time since November 2015 that Moeen batted in England’s top four in both the games of the series. And despite being a handy offspinner in the T20 format, he has been sparingly used as a bowler.
But in the last match, in his three-over spell, he returned figures of two for 32, and with his score of 36 off 16 ball, he won the Man-of-the-Match award.
When asked post-match if this was the most involved he has felt in the side for a while, Moeen said: “It has been quite tough, because the guys have been playing well and obviously [Eoin] Morgs wants to look at other guys as well.
“Being an all-rounder, you want to bat and bowl as much as you can. Sometimes it does make you feel like the role I have is ‘bits and pieces’. I could have let it get me down a bit, but now I’m a bit older and a bit wiser, it’s about keeping confident and hopefully the performances will take care of themselves.
“I’ve come off the back of the IPL, where I was playing well and I didn’t want to lose that confidence. I’ve just tried to be positive and play my best cricket when my chance comes.
“Today it was nice to be in the powerplay, with the fielders up, and it was nice to bat with Jos [Buttler] – it has been a while since I have batted with him – and we put on a good partnership.
“It was a brilliant team performance, so many other guys could have won man of the match, but I’m really happy.”
Moeen’s international teammate Stuart Broad, who was commentating on the game with Sky Sports, lauded Moeen’s performance. He said, “When Moeen is relaxed and confident, enjoying his cricket, that is when he is at his best.”
Sri Lanka great Kumar Sangakkara also reiterated what Broad said, adding Moeen and legspinner Adil Rashid would be key to England’s T20 World Cup hopes.
“For me, he [Moeen] is such a valuable cricketer to the England side,” said Sangakkara. “He is the number one spinner by far in Test cricket, and your number one spinning all-rounder by far in white-ball cricket.
“He and Rashid should be frontrunners in the squad as they search for a T20 World Cup title.”