England’s all-rounder Moeen Ali has decided to leave the English cricket team and will return home after the second Test match between India and England.
England lost the second Test match by massive 317 runs as India’s spin bowlers rolled over them in the match in Chennai to level the series 1-1. England, who won the first Test match, will now need to win all the remaining Test match in order to qualify for the World Test Championship final.
Moeen Ali was one of the stars for England in the horrible loss against India in second Test match. He took eight wickets in the match, including Virat Kohli twice in both innings. He dismissed Virat Kohli for a five-ball duck in the first inning. His overall figures were 8-226, after taking 4-128 in the first innings and 4-98 in the second innings.
He did not do well in the first innings as he was dismissed for 6 off 30 balls. But he played an entertainment innings in the final innings when England were all but lost. He scored 43 fun runs in 18 balls, before being the last batsman to be dismissed.
Moeen Ali returns home
England captain Joe Root has confirmed that Moeen Ali will return home after the second Test match. Though the all-rounder is expected to take part in the white-ball series.
It is a big blow for the England team, considering he bowled well against India taking eight wickets and scoring 43 in the second innings. This also means that England may go back to bowling all-rounder Dominic Bess, who was dropped for the second Test match.
Captain Joe Root shared his thoughts after the all-rounder decided to leave.
“From the squad, Moeen is the only one going home Obviously it’s been a very tricky tour for him, and as mentioned at the start [of the tour], if players feel they need to get out of the bubble, then that’s been an option and it’s important that we stand by that.”
This was Moeen Ali’s first Test match in 18 months after he left himself out of the 2019 Ashes series before being recalled for England’s winter tour. He did not play the whole Sri Lanka series due to contracting Covid-19 that caused him to spend two weeks in quarantine and miss out on selection for that leg.
“It’s been a very difficult tour for him, having to deal with Covid and being in his room for such long periods of time. You come to a point where you want to get out of the bubble and that’s absolutely fair. I’m sure it wasn’t an easy decision for him, but it’s one that we respect.”
England needs to win the remaining two Test matches if they wish to qualify for the ICC World Test Championship.
Read more: Is the era of Virat Kohli coming to an end?
