The offspinner-allrounder talks about his time in the BPL, playing under MS Dhoni, and what he makes of England’s young Test spinners
Interview by Mohammad Isam08-Mar-2024This is your third season with Comilla Victorians. How has playing in the BPL been?
I played the BPL years ago but that experience wasn’t great. Over time, it got better. Comilla approached me a few years ago through Tamim [Iqbal]. He obviously left. [Umpire] Richard Illingworth asked me. He knows [team owner] AHM Mustafa Kamal.Comilla looks after me really well. They are professionally run, and one of the best franchises I have played in. I enjoy coming here. I like to play for the right reasons, that’s why I come to play for Comilla. They want to win. BPL has become a stronger competition this year. I just want to win trophies in my career.You got the second hat-trick of your career in this season’s BPL.
My son always asks me to get a hat-trick. I always tell him that it is a once-in-a-lifetime kind of thing. When he found out that I got a hat-trick here, he was really happy. I never got even one hat-trick in backyard cricket, so I’m really happy to get two in professional cricket!Last year when Ben Stokes sent you a message to return to Test cricket, you came back into something called Bazball.
Test cricket is the best. I love playing Test cricket. It is the best format of the game. When I first retired, I was a bit down. I finished not playing so well. [Brendon] McCullum and Stokes gave me this opportunity, which I couldn’t turn down. It was the Ashes at home. I finished Test cricket with such great memories, such a high. I just absolutely loved it. I batted three, bowled spin.I feel like they are changing the face of cricket. I know they are 2-1 down in India [this interview was conducted on February 24] but they have played unbelievably. They have taken to India on difficult wickets. I love that about Bazball. There’s always a chance. The belief is there. India are also playing really well. They are also taking the game on. Look at the way [Yashasvi] Jaiswal is playing. He is doing unbelievably well.It is the way the game needs to go for people to watch. Like ODI cricket changed, Test cricket also has to change. There’s still time for proper Test match batting, but it needs to get forward. This is what Bazball is doing.Related
Fried chicken and vibes herald Moeen Ali's return
Eleven cricketers who returned for an encore
Moeen Ali, England's silent warrior, gloriously walks into sunset once more
Moeen Ali: 'England didn't see writing on the wall'
How do you think Ben Stokes has captained spin bowling on the current tour of India?
He did really well. The way he backs his spinners – even when I played in the UK, he had [innovative] field settings against Australia [like] a guy dead-straight behind the [bowler’s] arm. He is always willing to do things like that. I had Joe Root and Alastair Cook as my captains [previously] but Stokesy was just different. Everyone knows that. The way he’s taking the game and team forward, it’s really amazing. In such a short period of time, he took England from not playing great cricket to amazing and entertaining cricket. Everyone is talking about Bazball. [The team themselves] actually don’t believe much in [the term]. They just want to play this brand of cricket. I think he is a special captain and a special player.What do you make of England’s spin trio – Tom Hartley, Rehan Ahmed and Shoaib Bashir – in India?
They have done really well. It’s not easy. India is a very difficult place. I know the wickets have spun nicely, still they have carried their own. I thought Hartley did really well in the first game. No matter what wicket, on debut, under pressure, the way he has battled is really, really good.This is a very inexperienced bowling attack. It is not even experienced in domestic cricket. You have to give them a lot of credit. They have kept England in the games. They bowled well. Hartley bowled really well in the first game. Bashir bowled really well today [day two in Ranchi]. Rehan hasn’t taken wickets but he has learned a lot. I think he has changed the way he bowled in red-ball cricket. They have done an excellent job. People don’t realise how hard it is against such good players of spin.How hard is it to convert from a child prodigy like Rehan was to doing well in Test cricket in India?
It is very difficult. He is a talented young player in England that everyone is talking about. There is big hype around him. They are used to this in India. They have seen become unbelievable players. They have seen people fail completely and go off the rails. Rehan will get the backing from Stokesy. He has, already. We know it will take time. They are prepared to give them as much time [as they deserve]. As long as he is doing well, Rehan will naturally take over from Adil Rashid in the white-ball formats. There’s no doubt that Rehan will come good. There is a bit of pressure. He has a good head on his shoulders. He will be fine.Moeen Ali expects 19-year-old Rehan Ahmed to go on to become an England spearhead in the white-ball sides, taking over from Adil Rashid•Ryan Pierse/Getty ImagesYou are available for the T20 World Cup that’s coming up in June. What are your plans going into the next few months?
Obviously home from here for a bit and then the IPL. After IPL, we have Pakistan [playing T20Is in England] and the World Cup [in the West Indies and USA]. I really want to defend this World Cup. We have a particularly brilliant team in T20s, provided everyone is fit.It is changing a bit now. Before you could prepare for a series or a World Cup properly. Now everyone is all over the place and you get together with the international side. I think we will do well. I think we have a very good chance.How do you regard this cricket calendar, with all the T20 leagues?
It is a great time for me. I am 36. There’s leagues everywhere. I think it is brilliant. When you have too long a break at this age, you have more chances of getting injured. I like to keep playing. As long as you are mentally fresh, two weeks of time off is enough.It is also tough. You retire from international cricket to spend more time at home, [but] you actually end up being away a lot of the time [when playing in leagues]. It is just as tough. The pressure of Test cricket is not there. Playing for a franchise has a different pressure. It is really good, but I can see that it can be a problem at the same time.You mentioned that you want to defend the T20 World Cup. Will you take lessons from the ODI World Cup last year, where England lost six out of nine games?
Definitely, it will be silly not to. I think we have learned a lot. I think we were expecting to do decently and see where it goes. The balance of the team was difficult. We changed a few things. I think we have a great chance in this T20 World Cup. It is too early to say if we are favourites, but we will be fine.Are you happy to have a floating role with bat and ball?
Whatever is good for the team. It is not just with England – in most places, a lot of the time I float. I don’t mind. When the left-handers are in, captains like to bowl me. Batting-wise, as long as I feel like I can adapt, I like to do whatever the team needs. I try to do the best I can.
” I want to look back in my career and think about what trophies I have won. It is not about my averages. It is about winning trophies and being part of a team that leaves a bit of a legacy”
Is it hard for younger players now to play a lot of red-ball cricket?
People might see a lot of players playing white-ball cricket all over the place, but it is not the same. You have to play a lot of red-ball cricket to know your batting and bowling. Your technique has to be different. It is easier to go from red ball to white than sometimes the other way around. Batsmanship has to be there. Knowing and understanding why you are not scoring runs.A lot of the players who go big in T20 cricket, when they are out of form, they are out of form for a long time because they don’t understand their own batting technique. Whereas a guy who has played a lot of red-ball cricket, their bad form in T20s is not massive because they know the techniques. They have played a lot of first-class or Test matches. I think that’s the only thing that’s going out of the game.As a young player coming through now, I would still want to play a lot of red-ball cricket to understand your own game. You just play, play, play. T20 leagues and the money will always be there.You said that Bazball is the way forward. Isn’t that sort of cricket what kids would like to play too?
Bazball is not just slogging. These guys are sweeping and reverse-sweeping more than they ever used to do. For example in India now they have sent bowlers back under pressure in tough situations. They have also soaked it up when they need to. It is about winning games at the end of the day. They won in Pakistan on three unbelievably flat wickets. They did it by scoring 400-500 runs in a day. They understood that they could move the game forward by scoring 500 in a day. It leaves enough time to bowl teams out. That would be what Bazball is, really. It is great for Test cricket.Is it trickling down to county cricket?
I think somebody who is going to bat 300 balls for a hundred nowadays is probably not going to play as much as someone who can score a hundred in 150 balls. I think that has changed in county cricket. Before Bazball, we won one game in 17 Tests. Since Bazball, we have won many games and we’ve got a great winning percentage away from home. I am a massive fan.”I think we have a great chance in this T20 World Cup. It is too early to say if we are favourites, but we will be fine”•Ashley Allen/Getty ImagesSouth-Asian-origin players like Rehan Ahmed and Shoaib Bashir are now in England’s XIs. Do you think diversity and inclusion are better in English cricket now?
Ever since I have played, it has always been good. I don’t know what it felt like before me. If you are good enough, you are going to play wherever you are from. Shoaib Bashir has hardly played any cricket. But they identified him as someone who can bowl well in India. Hartley is the same. They liked his style of bowling. They felt he can do it in India. Stokesy and these guys will go on gut feel.The ECB have been doing a great job in terms of diversity and inclusion over a period of time. Nobody ever gets it right straight away. It takes a bit of time. It is happening. I still believe that if you are good enough, you will play.You mentioned that you love the T20 leagues. Do you see yourself playing into your 40s?
I will play as long as I am playing well, as long as I feel like I can contribute to the team. I watch players like Imran Tahir. He is a massive inspiration at 44. Shoaib Malik has been playing for a long time. Not playing Tests and ODIs will prolong my career in terms of playing domestic cricket all over the world. I know there will be a time physically when I can’t play. I want to play till then.What’s it like to play under MS Dhoni in the IPL? You have been heavily involved in Chennai Super Kings’ title wins recently.
Everyone knows that Dhoni is a special player and a special captain. He is a very good guy. I have played three seasons but I don’t know what he is going to come up with. His strategic persona is really good. It is exciting as a player – what role he has for you. When you are playing for CSK with Dhoni as the captain, whether the team is weak or strong on paper, you always have a chance of winning.
“Before Bazball, we won one game in 17 Tests. Since Bazball, we have won many games and we’ve got a great winning percentage away from home. I am a massive fan”
From a personal point of view, I want to win as many trophies as I can. I want to look back in my career and think about what trophies I have won. It is not about my averages. It is about winning trophies and being part of a team that leaves a bit of a legacy. With Comilla, for example, we won the last two BPL trophies.Given cricket’s changing landscape, what would be your advice to any young cricketer starting off now in Asia, Africa or the UK?
I would tell a young kid to play as much red-ball cricket as you can. It will help your game. The reason why there haven’t been good legspinners in Tests after Shane Warne is because they haven’t played enough red-ball cricket. You have to play red-ball cricket to be a proper cricketer.It looks good from the outside, chasing all the money and playing the leagues, but for your own cricket, red-ball is the way forward. As a young cricketer, I would play overseas first-class cricket instead of T20s. Those leagues will be there [even later].The other thing I would like to say is: don’t chase after things that won’t be good for your game. Do what is right for your own game first, even if it is means staying home for a winter. Do the basics right. Get a good shape on the ball if you are a spinner. Spin the ball, become accurate. You can be an average spinner in T20s and get away with it. You have to bowl well to get wickets in red-ball cricket. I have very rarely seen people taking a lot of wickets bowling badly in red-ball cricket. Understand your game first before you want to do other stuff. That’d be my advice.
