OTD 1987: Birth of England all rounder Moeen Ali, who filled the void left by Graeme Swann’s surprise retirement during the 2013-14 Ashes

On this day, back in 1987, England star cricketer Moeen Ali was born, who has taken his side to the epitome of the level with some magnificent wins. He has been known as one of the most destructive all-rounders that England has ever produced. He also played crucial roles in various T20I leagues, especially for RCB and CSK in IPL history. The star cricketer has played all three formats for his side and played a crucial role when his side won the 2019 ODI World Cup under Eoin Morgan’s captaincy and the 2022 T20 World Cup under Jos Butter’s leadership.

Moeen Ali got the chance to lead his side back on September 8, 2020, during the T20I game against Australia at Southampton. He has established himself as the first Asian-origin cricketer to lead England in T20s and the first Asian star to captain England in any format since Nasser Hussain in 2003. He played a crucial role in the 2021 T20 World Cup as he went on to amass 92 runs with seven scalps in the six matches of the marquee event.

Notably, Moeen Ali captained the English set-up in the third, fourth, and fifth T20I matches due to regular skipper Eoin Morgan’s injury during the T20I series against a strong Australian side. However, he was appointed as the vice-captain to Jos Buttler in the limited-overs of the game.

Interestingly, he came out of retirement from Test cricket to be part of the England squad to face Australia in Ashes 2023 after Jack Leach was ruled out due to injuries. He had amazing ashes as he went on to get his 200th scalp and became the only 16th player in history to reach that milestone alongside hitting 3000 Test runs. However, he finally announced his retirement in the final match alongside his teammate Stuart Broad. He is a crucial part of the ongoing T20 World Cup 2024 tournament taking place in the USA and the United Kingdom, as England made it to the semi-finals of the event and set their eyes on defending their title.

Also read: Shane Watson’s top 3 performances in White-ball Cricket