Moeen Ali has been recalled to England’s squad for the upcoming second Test against India at Lord’s.
The spin-bowling all-rounder hasn’t played in a Test match at home since the first game of Ashes 2019, which also was the ICC World Test Championship 2019-21 opener. After the completion of Ashes, Ali went on an indefinite break from Test cricket.
Since then, he has played only one Test that too against India in Chennai where he was the highest run-scorer (49) and the highest wicket-taker (8) for England in their 317-run defeat.
On Monday, England head coach Chris Silverwood had told the reporters that Ali was under consideration for a call back in the absence of their star all-rounders Ben Stokes and Chris Woakes.
“Moeen is certainly under consideration. He’s always been part of our consideration. We know he is a fine cricketer and we know he is showing fine form in the Hundred at the moment, though I appreciate it’s a different format.
“All-rounders such Ben Stokes or Chris Woakes usually give you options all-round. Unfortunately, we’ve found ourselves squeezed through circumstance recently and we haven’t been able to do that,” Silverwood had said.
The first Test between England and India ended in a draw after the final day at Trent Bridge got washed out due to rain. The action now shifts to Lord’s for the second Test of the five-match series, starting Thursday, August 12.
England’s squad for the second Test against India:
Joe Root (c), Moeen Ali, James Anderson, Jonny Bairstow, Dom Bess, Stuart Broad, Rory Burns, Jos Buttler (wk), Zak Crawley, Sam Curran, Haseeb Hameed, Dan Lawrence, Jack Leach, Craig Overton, Ollie Pope, Ollie Robinson, Dom Sibley, Mark Wood.
