England's Moeen Ali shows class is permanent as he puts finger injury nightmare in the past

Ajit Vijaykumar 00:45 14/06/2018
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  • England all-rounder Moeen Ali was down and out during the Ashes last year Down Under. He suffered a cut in his right index finger, which had a devastating impact on his bowling abilities during the the first two Tests.

    With hardly anything behind the deliveries, Moeen had a disastrous tour as he was carted around in five Tests for an astronomical average of 115. He was at the lowest point as a spinner. His finger injury, sadly, took away his biggest strength when he needed it the most.

    “I have found bowling quite tough,” Moeen had said about his injury. “I need a bit more time for healing and it’s not been easy. At the moment, as soon as I start bowling, it starts to rip a little bit. As an off-spinner, the index finger is the one thing I really need to be 100 per cent.”

    That seemed to be it for Moeen. He was dropped for the second Test against New Zealand and then the two-Test series against Pakistan at home in which the hosts had to fight to draw level after falling behind at Lord’s.

    Time away from the team was just what Moeen needed with the all-rounder saying he should have been dropped from the Test team earlier.

    Moeen was a late addition to the Royal Challengers Bangalore side in the IPL and he bowled well in the five games, picking up three wickets at an economy of 7.4.

    That was the beginning of a turnaround of sorts. In the domestic One-Day Cup match for Worcestershire against Warwickshire, Moeen picked up three wickets and then smashed a century at the top of the order.

    In the Scotland ODI on Sunday, Moeen was the best England bowler on display with 0-66 from 10 overs as the Scots piled on 371 for five. The off-spinner was it it again against the Aussies in the first ODI on Wednesday, dismantling the visitors’ top order by picking up 3-43.

    His dismissal of Shaun Marsh was particularly impressive, rattling the stumps of the left hander after sneaking past his forward defence.

    It was the sort of dismissal Moeen the Test bowler would have been proud of. And it was a timely reminder of his ability as a pure off-spinner.

    England put their faith in the off-spin of Dom Bess against Pakistan. While the off-spinner picked up three wickets in the second match, he was negotiated easily in the first Test by Pakistan’s batsmen.

    The England management will do back Moeen the Test bowler as offers a lot more with the ball and bat. Remember, this is the same Moeen that picked up 6-67 in the second innings of the 2014 Southampton Test against India. He was a class act then, as he is now.

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