Kolkata : English All Rounder Moeen Ali has announced retirement from International Cricket.
The Asian origin, Birmingham born English Cricketer made his debut in 2014 against West Indies. He scored 6678 international runs and picked 366 wickets. Ali was part of the English squad that won the 2019 Cricket World Cup and 2022 T20 World Cup.
The 37 years old last played an international match in 2024 T20 World Cup Semi final against winner India. In ODIs, he didn’t play any matches after last World Cup 2023 Match against Pakistan and being knocked out from group stage.
Since the 2024 T20 WC, he didn’t feature in any matches for England. He was also dropped from the White Ball series squad against Australia starting this month. Therefore, he felt, at 37 , it is right time to hang boots and pave way for youngsters.
“I’m 37 years old and didn’t get picked for this month’s Australia series,” Ali said.
“I’ve played a lot of cricket for England. It’s time for the next generation, which was also explained to me. It felt the time was right. I’ve done my part”, Ali added.
Ali, who holds the England record for the fastest half-century in T20Is having reached fifty in 16 balls against South Africa in 2022, said he was proud of his international career.
“When you first play for England, you don’t know how many games you are going to play. So to play nearly 300 … I know they were the best days of my life”, Ali said.
Ali said he planned to keep playing in franchise cricket and take up coaching in the future.
“I could hold on and try to play for England again, but I know in reality I won’t,” he added.
“Even retiring, I don’t feel it’s because I’m not good enough … but I get how things are, and the team needs to evolve into another cycle. It’s about being real to myself”, Ali concluded.
Ali retired from Test Cricket earlier, but came back for playing the Ashes 2023 , which England drew 2-2 . Despite failing to retain the Ashes, Ali had been in good form with his all round abilities. After the Ashes, he declared he won’t play in Red Ball Cricket even if the captain and coach ask him.
He will continue to play franchise Cricket and entertain his fans worldwide.
