IND v ENG 2021: Moeen Ali wouldn't wish positive COVID-19 diagnosis on anyone

Moeen remained isolated in his hotel room for much of England's recent tour of Sri Lanka.

Moeen Ali | GettyEngland all-rounder Moeen Ali on Saturday (January 3) said he wouldn't wish his positive COVID-19 diagnosis and two weeks of quarantine on anyone.

Moeen remained isolated in his hotel room for much of England's recent tour of Sri Lanka, ended up missing both the Test matches.

The 33-year-old is now back in the reckoning to feature in the first Test against India, starting February 5 in Chennai.

"I wouldn't wish it on anyone to be honest with you, just stuck there," he was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz.

Moeen is still not sure from where he picked up the virus as teammate Chris Woakes, who shared a minibus with him on the way to Heathrow airport before the flight to Sri Lanka, returned Coronavirus negative.

"Personally I feel like I got it at the airport or on the plane," Moeen said. "Nobody in my family got it and Woakesy didn't get it so I think it was the plane or the airport.

"I felt fine all the way through. Left home fine, got to the airport, fine. I didn't sleep much on the plane and felt a bit jetlagged and then in the evening I started to get splitting headaches. The test was positive. I was not surprised, I had a feeling because once I landed I didn't feel great. Through the evening I had splitting headaches. Part of me was thinking 'let's get this over and done with, as long as it's not too bad'.

"I had loss of taste for a day or so, splitting headaches for three days, body was very sore and the fatigue was....I've never experienced that sort of tiredness before in my life. It was three days feeling pretty rough and the rest was fine. When I initially got it, I thought the next five days will be crucial here, I didn't want the cough and fever and thankfully I didn't have that. There's part of you that's worried and anticipating it would be bad."

After authorities in Sri Lanka insisted that Moeen remains isolated for a while longer in light of a new strain of the virus, his quarantine period was extended from 10 to 14 days.

"The 14 days felt like they were dragging. The last four days in particular were very tough because I felt fine but I was just stuck in a room. It was tough. I somehow got through and didn't think too much about it, just used the time as wisely as I could," he said.

Whether Moeen gets picked for the first Test against India remains to be seen as he doesn’t have any match practice, but he is available for selection at least.

"I'm good. I've been training normally for a while. I had a good five or six net sessions in the end. I had to start quite slow but then during the second Test match [in Sri Lanka] I was training every day. I had a good few sessions.

"When I got out [of isolation], for four or five days we had to be careful because I think heart-rate can be an issue after Covid for people who do a bit of running. From my point of view I'm good now, but I have no match practice or anything. I think I'm fine, whether or not I get picked is another matter."

(Inputs from Cricbuzz)

 
 

By Salman Anjum - 31 Jan, 2021

    Share Via