Moeen Ali

A World Cup winner, a Pakistan-descent English cricketer, an NBC’s Denis Compton Award winner, a Wisden Cricketers' Almanack nominee and one of the finest all-rounders; there is nothing that Moeen Ali hasn’t done in his career. He is a versatile left-handed batsman and an aggressive off break bowler, who plays for England across all formats. 

Ali came to recognition during his performances in the 2006 U-19 World Cup, where England went on to play the semifinal. As a 15-year-old, he got contracted by Warwichshire, before shifting his base to Worcestershire. In a couple of seasons, the all-rounder became a sine qua non in the Worcestershire line-up. 

Ali led the county in the 2011 season in the absence of regular skipper Mitchel Daryl. The spinning all-rounder also worked with Saeed Ajmal and learnt bowling the “Doosra”. 

He had a prolific Championship season of 2013 where he scored 1375 runs in just 17 outings, including four 100s & eight 50s. 

Apart from it, the offie also took 31 wickets during the tournament. After Graeme Swann’s retirement, the spin-bowling all-rounder was included in the national team in 2014. Ali made his international debut in an ODI against West Indies and made his first T20 appearance on the same tour. Later, he was selected for the World T20 played in Bangladesh. 

In June of 2015, Ali made his Test debut against Sri Lanka, at Lord’s, and became an overnight star in the Leeds Test, where the all-rounder scored his maiden century. In his second Test assignment, Ali became the solution for England’s spin problem and finished the series with 18 wickets against the Indians. 

During the Southampton Test, the spinner took his maiden fifer and ended the match with figures of 8 for 129. After that, he excelled during the series against West Indies & New Zealand, and also played a pivotal role in the 2015 Ashes. 

Over the years as the all-rounder’s career progressed, he took long strides to become a regular in all the formats. He was part of England's 2015 World Cup squad and became a vital cog in the 2016 World T20 campaign, where they fell short in the final. During his initial days, Ali used to bat at top-order but during England’s transition, Ali got demoted to play as a finisher.

During the auctions for the 2018 Indian Premier League (IPL) season, Ali got picked by Royal Challengers Bangalore, but couldn’t find his place in the already star-studded lineup. Next year, Ali got 11 games and the all-rounder didn’t fail to impress. He scored 220 runs at a strike-rate of 165.41 and also grabbed 6 wickets in the season. 

Ali was an integral part of England’s setup during the 2019 World Cup triumph and contributed in all the junctures of the game. The all-rounder took wickets at crucial points and was always with runs down the order. 

The all-rounder was released by RCB ahead of the 2021 auctions. He could only play three games in the IPL held in UAE. In February 2021, the spinner-cum-ruthal-batsman was picked by Chennai Super Kings for the 14th edition of IPL, for a whopping amount of INR 7 crores. Now, the utility cricketer, Moeen Ali, will be under the watchful eyes of MS Dhoni who would give him some invaluable tips to prolong the remainder of the allrounder’s career. 

(As of March 2021)