Rohit Sharma and Cheteshwar Pujara never let me bowl the way I wanted to bowl: Moeen Ali

Moeen Ali, the England all-rounder, said that Rohit Sharma and Cheteshwar Pujara have hardly allowed him to bowl as per his plans. Moeen missed out playing the first Test at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. However, he got his chance in the second game at the same venue. He made his Test comeback after last playing in the 2019 Ashes in England.

In the first innings, he picked up four wickets, and along with Jack Leach, he helped England bowl the hosts out for 221 runs. Moeen had positive vibes about his bowling but also admitted that Rohit and Pujara hardly allow him to get into any sort of rhythm. Moeen put forth his opinions before the day’s play on Monday.

“Yesterday I felt I really bowled well. They didn’t let me settle, Rohit and Pujara played me particularly well and never let me bowl the way I wanted to bowl. Getting four wickets was nice though and I know that had I played the practice games I would’ve done better,” Ali told.

Virat is a brilliant player of spin: Moeen Ali

In the first innings, one of Moeen’s wickets was Virat Kohli, the Indian skipper. Moeen dismissed the 32-year-old Virat for a duck, running through his defence and shattering the stumps. The tweaker was over the moon after getting the wicket of the opposition skipper.

“Virat is a brilliant player of spin, to get him out was great. It was a nice ball. The preparation has been tough. I didn’t play any games because I ripped my finger and bowling in games is different from bowling in the nets,” he stated.

Moeen also admitted that Rohit’s knock in the first innings was impactful enough to push the Three Lions on the backfoot. Sharma smashed 161 runs off 231 balls with the help of 18 fours and two sixes before getting out to Leach. He also shared a 162-run stand with Ajinkya Rahane, Team India’s Test vice-captain.

“I think we just need to fight, it is going to be tough for us to win or draw this game. We need to show some fight with the ball and the bat. The difference between the two sides was Rohit’s innings and he just took it away from us,” Moeen added.