Geoffrey Boycott calls Moeen Ali’s promotion to no. 3 ‘ridiculous’

England’s decision to use Moeen Ali at no. 3 in the second innings of the fourth Test against India has not gone down with many. The idea to promote Moeen in the batting order ahead of Joe Root, who has been filling that spot for a while now, has been criticized by many, and the legendary Geoffrey Boycott too has joined the bandwagon.

That Moeen walked in at the fall of the first wicket was a huge surprise, because he has been a big flop when batting at no. 3. He scored just nine – though that is his highest score batting at this particular position in Tests- before edging Ishant Sharma to KL Rahul at second slip.

“Well that worked, with Moeen Ali batting three,” the former English batsman Boycott said on Britsh Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). “It’s not fair on him. They’ve tried him before up front. That was a wasted idea.”

Terming this decision as ridiculous, Boycott suggested better alternatives for England’s batting order. “It’s ridiculous. You’ve got to find five batsmen. Root wants to bat four, he’s got four in this match, and I agree the best player has to have the position he wants.

Bairstow doesn’t want to bat four, he wants to bat five or six. He’s got five in this match. But you can’t carry on with your openers averaging 20 or so. Your number three sometimes has to be an opener but he’d like to come in when your 80 for one, once in a while,” the 77-year-old added.

A double century at no. 3 for Worcestershire

Moeen scored a double century batting at No.3 for Worcestershire in the recent Division One encounter with Yorkshire, but he hasn’t been able to replicate such performances at such positions at the highest level.

Joe Root, however, is not dismal when batting on no. 4. He scored 48 in the second innings before being run-out. Being the best batsman, he’d like to be given the freedom to choose his batting slot, but the real challenge is to find a good batsman at No. 3.

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