Moeen Ali is probably batting as well as he has ever done in T20I cricket. Yet, England are not utilising him as much as they should be, writes Shashwat Kumar.
England cricket fans will not want to remember October 26, 2022. It was the second time they were defeated by Ireland at the men’s World Cup, and the third time a European nation had gotten the better of them at the men’s T20 World Cup. Their famed batting unit could not get going at all. Ben Stokes looked scratchy again, while Dawid Malan could not bat at a decent tempo. By the time Moeen came out to bat, England were well behind the eight-ball.
Moeen only ended up facing 12 balls but scored 24 runs, including three fours and a six. For context, the other English batters could only manage four fours between them in total. That, apart from illustrating how Moeen quickly hit his straps, also threw open a more nuanced question: are England doing enough to truly unlock Moeen’s batting potential?
This debate has been raging for some time. Not many batters in the world look as graceful as Moeen, and only a few can rival his vast array of strokes. That, though, has, at times, come at the cost of consistency. In the past couple of years, however, he has been consistent for someone who takes a lot of risks. In T20I cricket, he averages 29.03 since the start of 2020, an upgrade on his overall average of 23.69. His strike rate of 159 is also better than what he has managed throughout his career (147).
This upturn in T20I form has also coincided with the increased responsibility in franchise cricket. Captain of the Birmingham Phoenix in the inaugural edition of The Hundred, Moeen batted predominantly in the top three. At IPL 2021, he was superb for the Chennai Super Kings, often batting at No.3 or 4 and injecting impetus into their innings. He was such a pivotal part of the side that CSK retained him, ahead of Dwayne Bravo, Faf du Plessis and Josh Hazlewood.
Both sides bestowed a certain level of trust upon Moeen – trust of him controlling the innings and ensuring the momentum never dropped. At a personal level, it has allowed Moeen to develop mechanisms to tackle different types of conditions, as he showed on a tricky MCG track against Ireland. On a pitch where almost every England batter attempted cross-batted strokes, he opted to play straight – a smarter idea on the relatively shorter (if that adjective can be applied to the ground, that is) straight boundaries and the two-paced nature of the pitch. He also seems more aware of his strengths and weaknesses, leading to more consistent returns.
The debate around why Moeen is batting in the lower middle order is certainly valid. If he has been performing that role consistently in domestic T20 leagues, why has that not been reprised enough in international cricket? In England’s defence, No.6 is where Moeen has been most successful in T20Is throughout his career. At that position, he averages a tick over 41 and strikes at a shade under 164. His overall numbers at No.4 (20.63 and 143), while decent, tell a tale of inconsistency.
But since the start of 2020, he seems to have turned a slight corner. He has batted at No.4 ten times, scoring 227 runs at an average of 25.22. The average might seem a little less but when viewed alongside his strike rate of 149, it indicates that even on days when he does not notch up a substantial score, Moeen rarely chews up deliveries.
Moeen in the top four could help England avoid situations like the one that arose against Ireland, where batters got stuck and consumed more deliveries than ideal. Moeen batting higher would also allow England to dominate spin in the middle overs a lot more: his overall T20 strike rate against spin is 160. In contrast, Stokes’s strike rate against spin reads 137, Malan’s 127, and Harry Brook’s 129.
For long, England have, because of Moeen’s flexibility, been tempted to test him out in different roles. They have used his versatility to fit other players in the side. But now, the priority should be to unlock his batting potential. And that will only happen if he faces more deliveries.
Over the past couple of years, there have been signs of Moeen evolving into his best T20I batting version. It is almost as if he is pleading England to give him a chance to prove his full potential. If England, after all these years of chopping, changing and debating about his potential, do not give him that opportunity, it would be a travesty.
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