Abu Dhabi: Moeen Ali might have played as a top-order batter for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in IPL 2021 but the all-rounder doesn’t see himself emulating the same role for England in the ongoing T20 World Cup.
MS Dhoni-led CSK beat Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the IPL final in Dubai and lifted their fourth IPL title last week. Moeen, who played a key role in CSK’s title win, said he felt like an important person in the camp. “I absolutely loved it (role in CSK). Obviously, when you win a competition like the IPL it’s amazing and with the role I was given, I felt like I was quite important to the team,” ESPNcricinfo quoted Moeen as saying.
“I’m just grateful that I played and did pretty well for them. As a team I thought we were great — we had great fun. I felt like I learned a lot with the experienced players that we had,” he added.
Moeen, who came into bat number 6, smashed 43 runs off just 20 balls in the warm-up game against India on Monday but the all-rounder knows with so much firepower in England squad his role could change in the T20 World Cup.
“The reality [is that] there are so many good players, if you look at the team we [England] have and the batters that we have — it’s quite scary, actually. My role could change but the good thing is I feel like I could play any type of role,” said Moeen.
“If a chance does come, I can bat No. 6 or 7 [or] I can bat up the order, so I’m just trying to get myself ready and be in a good frame of mind. Whatever role I’m given, I’m hopefully going to do well in,” he added.
In the warm-up game, Ishan Kishan and KL Rahul played knocks of 70 and 51 respectively as India chased down 189 to defeat England by seven wickets on Monday.
