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Legendary England fast bowler Stuart Broad and former Australian skipper Ricky Ponting on Sunday hailed England all-rounder Moeen Ali on the conclusion of a successful international career, with the former calling him "one of his favourite teammates".
Moeen, who last played for England in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024, has retired from the international game. Moeen believed that the time was right for him after understanding that he was no longer in consideration for the side's future assignments. Speaking as quoted by Sky Sports, Broad said that Moeen was one of his favourite teammates and recalled his strong care to win games for England ever since the days of sharing dressing rooms in age group cricket. The former bowler also opened up on Moeen's "wonderful" nature. "He is one of my favourite ever teammates. I first shared a dressing room with him for an Under-17s XI against Bangladesh Under-19s and got on great there," said Broad as quoted by Sky Sports. "He just has a wonderful nature about him. He is someone who can just make the whole changing room feel relaxed, he has got great humour to him. He cared deeply about paying for England and winning games of cricket." "For me, it is not about the stats or the numbers with Moeen, it is about the contributions he had to the changing rooms and the little moments in games where he would have a huge smile on his face." "There was a moment here (at The Oval) when he took a hat-trick to win a Test match and the joy of watching the big screen and watching him win the Test match, it was an iconic moment in my mind. The celebration of all his teammates around him summed up what he meant to everyone," concluded Moeen. Ponting also said that Moeen was an "entertainer" and he loved watching the flow of the all-rounder's bat. He also called the all-rounder a "dynamic" white-ball cricketer. "I think the one word I would have used was entertainer," said Ponting. "I love watching him bat and the flow of the bat. Everybody talks about his bat swing and how much time he seemingly had. The multi-format is the other thing. He has been a dynamic T20, ODI international player as well." "Anybody that has played 68 Test matches has had a very, very good career. I am sure he will be remembered long and hard all around the world," he concluded. The all-rounder has featured in 298 international matches from 2014-2024 for the English side in his cricketing career. Moeen made his international debut in 2014 against the West Indies. He scored 6,678 international runs and picked up 366 wickets. He won the 2019 Cricket World Cup and 2022 T20 World Cup with the senior men's side. As a youngster, Moeen tended towards batting, but in the England shirt, he developed his bowling well enough to become their leading bowler in the Tests. He finished with 204 Test scalps, making him just the third England spinner behind Derek Underwood (297) and Graeme Swann (255). In 68 Tests, he scored 3,094 runs at an average of 28.12, with five centuries and 15 fifties. In 138 ODIs, he has scored 2,355 runs at an average of 24.27, with three centuries and six fifties. His best score is 128. The all-rounder also took 111 wickets in ODIs, with the best figures of 4/46. In 92 T20Is, Moeen scored 1,229 runs at an average of 21.18 and a strike rate of 142.41, with seven fifties. He also took 51 wickets, with the best score of 3/24. (ANI)
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