I like to bowl on pitches that don’t really turn much: Moeen Ali
With my style of bowling, there are chances of leaking more runs on turning tracks.
Mumbai
: Moeen Ali made his way into the England side on the back of some impressive performances in the county circuit with the bat. The left-hander was considered as an aberration in an era where power hitting and heavy bats dominated the game.
However, there has been a massive change in the way the English cricketer is looked at now. Once known for his silky smooth strokeplay and wristwork, Moeen is currently England’s number one spinner.
Considering the main event will be played in India where pitches are traditionally spinner-friendly, one would have thought he would be over the moon. However, Moeen thinks otherwise.
“Personally, I like to bowl on the pitches that don’t really spin that much. It is easier to control your length. But when it is spinning, you get more chances of getting wickets. But there are chances of leaking more runs with my style of bowling,” Moeen said here, during England’s pre-tournament media session ahead of the ICC World T20 on Wednesday.
“If someone like Ashwin (Ravichandran Ashwin) is bowling, he is still a lot more economical. I am still learning about my bowling and feel I can get better,” he added.
The tall and soft-spoken right-arm spinner was a revelation when India toured England in 2014. Although the MS Dhoni-led Indian side won the Lord’s Test, Moeen’s bowling (19 wickets) played a pivotal part in sealing England’s coming from behind (3-1) series win.
He has never looked back since then. While he struggled with the bat during England’s recently concluded tour of South Africa, he was one of the vital cogs in the wheel (10 wickets) in England’s 2-1 series win over the hosts.
When asked about how England cricket team management backed him despite the initial criticism from former cricketers, Moeen said, “First of all, they backed me to keep playing and that meant they backed me to do well. There were games where I did not do well and I was still part of the team. That’s a big confidence booster. You become a good player only when you get that support, after one or two bad games, from the team management.”
