Moeen Ali has Become an Important Sporting Figure in England – Nasser Hussain

Aug 11, 2017 at 10:48 AM

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Moeen Ali has Become an Important Sporting Figure in England – Nasser Hussain

Former England captain Nasser Hussain has lavished praise on Moeen Ali and has said the spin-bowling all-rounder deserves as much ‘roar’ as Ben Stokes.

Moeen starred with both bat and ball in the recently-concluded series against South Africa. In conditions that suited seam bowling and with the likes of James Anderson and Stuart Broad in the team, Moeen outperformed everyone and ended the series as the leading wicket-taker, picking up 25 wickets at an impressive average of 15.

The highlights of his superlative performances in the series were his 10-wicket haul in the series-opener at Lord’s, the hat-trick at the Oval and then the five-wicket haul in the final innings at Old Trafford that helped England register their first home series win against South Africa since 1998.

Moeen was equally impressive with the bat, scoring 252 runs including the decisive unbeaten 75-run knock in the second innings at Old Trafford. In doing so, he became only the second England all-rounder after the legendary Ian Botham to take at least 25 wickets and score more than 250 runs in a Test series.

“With England, Ben Stokes always gets a huge roar because of the way he plays, then Moeen is right up there because of the whole package and what it means to the nation for us to have someone like him. It is a sign, in many ways, of how far we have come,” Nasser wrote in his Daily Mail column.

Credits: Getty

Nasser also praised Moeen for the way he followed his Islamic beliefs and decided to walk away when his teammates celebrated with champagne.

“It was clear the rest of the squad appreciated everything Moeen stands for, not just as an outstanding cricketer but also as a man of Islamic faith who has become such an important sporting figure in our country,” he wrote.

“He has become one of England’s best players and, without being too heavy about it, can be a force for good in troubled times. We are blessed to have him in so many ways,” Nasser further wrote.

The cricketer-turned-commentator further wrote that England should tap the talent from different backgrounds.

“Why are we still not tapping into that market and producing more England cricketers from those backgrounds? I used to see loads of talented young kids, third or fourth-generation British Asians, at my dad’s cricket school in Ilford when I played and you could see and appreciate their love of the game,” wrote Hussain who was born in Chennai.

Also Read: (Moeen Ali credits Saqlain Mushtaq for success in Tests)

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