England's legendary all-rounder Moeen Ali has taken a U-turn on his Test career. Moeen has retired from Test cricket and has joined the team for the five-Test Ashes series against Australia starting June 16 at Edgbaston. This 35-year-old player announced his retirement from Test cricket after the tour of India in 2021. However, now England captain Ben Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum asked him to reconsider his decision.
Moeen Ali has been included in the squad in place of injured spinner Jack Leach. Left-arm spinner Leach has been ruled out of the Ashes due to back pain. Rob Key, Managing Director of England Cricket, said – We contacted Moeen Ali earlier this week to withdraw his retirement from Test cricket. Moeen is excited to join the team and play Test cricket again.
Moeen Ali, who was part of the IPL 2023 Champions Chennai Super Kings, played his last match in first-class cricket against India in September 2021 at The Oval. He made his Test debut in 2014 against Sri Lanka at Lord's. Moin has so far scored 2914 runs in 64 Tests at an average of 28.29, including five centuries and 14 half-centuries. Apart from this, he has 195 wickets in his name.
England squad for the Ashes: Ben Stokes (c), Moeen Ali, James Anderson, Jonathan Bairstow, Stuart Broad, Harry Brook, Jack Crawley, Ben Duckett, Dan Lawrence, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Ollie Robinson, Joe Root, Josh Tongue, Chris Woakes and Mark Wood.
(pc amarujala)
