In a shocking news, England all-rounder Moeen Ali has alleged that an unnamed Australian cricketer called him 'Osama' during the 2015 Ashes.

In his autobiography, which is being serialised by The Times, Moeen revealed that the incident distracted him during the first Ashes Test in Cardiff in 2015.

“It was a great first Ashes Test in terms of my personal performance. However there was one incident which had distracted me. An Australian player had turned to me on the field and said, ‘Take that, Osama.’ I could not believe what I had heard. I remember going really red. I have never been so angry on a cricket field,” Ali wrote in his autobiography.

“I told a couple of the guys what the player had said to me and I think Trevor Bayliss [the England coach] must have raised it with Darren Lehmann, the Australians’ coach,” he further added. 

Giving a further explanation of the entire episode, Moeen wrote: “Lehmann asked the player, ‘Did you call Moeen Osama?’ He denied it, saying, ‘No, I said, ‘Take that, you part-timer.’’ I must say I was amused when I heard that, obviously I had to take the player’s word for it, though for the rest of the match I was angry.”

Moeen Ali had scored 77 and claimed 5 wickets in the 2015 Cardiff Test as England won the game by 169 runs. More than Ali’s personal performance, Cardiff crowd’s reaction after the match gave him comfort.

"But our eventual triumph and the Cardiff crowd's reaction to me comforted me that the Australian player represented nobody," Moeen wrote.