'It was a little bit out of context' - Moeen Ali, Alastair Cook indulge in on air argument once again

Former England captain Alastair Cook and all-rounder Moeen Ali were involved in a heated argument four months back during a show in the Ashes. Moeen who played under both Joe Root and Cook, mentioned that Root had a lot more emotional attachment to the players. The statement did not excite Cook and he immediately questioned, “Are you just criticising my captaincy?”.

The argument started to grow a lot more as Cook defended himself by stating that Root had dropped Moeen a lot. The off-spinner responded by mentioning the number of positions he had to bat from 1 to 9 during his first international year under Cook. The argument came to the fore again in the ongoing New Zealand tour of England, as the duo shared the stage.

I was saying Joe Root had a lot more empathy: Moeen Ali

Alastair Cook was the one to start the conversation as he recalled welcomed Moeen, who was coming back from a holiday. He jokingly went on to note that Moeen had already told everyone in the studio that he wasn’t a good captain or would be a good coach. He further added a bit of spice, stating that he had nothing to defend in an amusing way.

“I was coming back from a holiday, walking straight back to the studio at midnight. I met the all-smiling Mo (Moeen), as he always is, very happy. Anyway, half an hour into the shift, he basically told everyone who is watching and listening, ‘I wasn’t a very good captain and I wouldn’t be a very good coach’. That’s kind of how it went. So I actually feel as if I have nothing to defend here,” Cook said on BBC’s Test Match Special.

Moeen responded that he had only mentioned Root having empathy for players and declined any statements on Cook’s captaincy or coaching. He added that Cook had taken it personally and felt that it was the reason behind it going viral.

“It was a little bit out of context. I was saying basically that Rooty had a lot more empathy for players than you did! And I never mentioned once that you’re not a good captain or if you are or aren’t better than Rooty. And then, you took it personally to heart and it went viral,” replied Moeen to Cook’s statements.