Veteran England all-rounder Moeen Ali admitted that the defending champions have failed to display their very brand of fearless cricket on the grand stage of the ongoing ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 in India.
With three losses out of four games so far, England finds itself in a precarious situation, as they now have to win all their remaining five matches to have any chances of advancing to the semifinals.
Ahead of England’s crucial CWC 2023 game against India on October 19 in Lucknow, Moeen said that not playing their aggressive brand of cricket has cost the defending champions the most so far. He urged England to be more fearless in the remaining games of the tournament, as they are all crucial.
Moeen Ali in the pre-match press conference: “We've been playing aggressive cricket since 2015 and done it quite well. I think the lack of that way of cricket has probably cost us a little bit in this tournament. I think we need to play that way, but without slogging the ball, but just be that really aggressive side that we know we can be.”
He added, “It's not always that easy. Yeah, most of the time you want the guys to score quickly and score for longer periods, so then it makes it easier for everybody else. But it doesn't always work like that.
If you get your openers and your top three firing, it certainly helps everybody else and you get in the big scores aside. We've spoken about it, and it's not always easy. We know you can't do it all the time. But the guys are due for some runs, and hopefully, it's going to come now.”
The spinner said that Jos Buttler’s experience of playing in India during IPL will help England at CWC 2023.
He continued, “Jos has played a lot here as well, so he knows a lot of the conditions, and he knows what happens in India. And yeah, he bounces a few ideas off me, and I do the same thing.”
Moeen said that the England team is disappointed with their performance so far in the ODI World Cup 2023, but now they will have to regroup quickly to make comeback in the tournament.
He said, “We're disappointed. You've got to move on as quick as you can and regroup. Everything is a must-win and we know we've been in this position before, probably not to this degree. We have to get our confidence and perform well and bat and bowl and field better.”
The England all-rounder urged his teammate to forget about individual goals and focus on winning games for the team in the tournament.
Ali noted, “It comes down to the individual to perform. As long as it's within the team's way of playing, I think that's really important. Because you can get individuals get a bit, not selfish, but they start thinking about themselves rather than the team.
"I think it's important that we forget all that and just, as an individual, once you get the opportunity, you try and win the game (for the team), and that's the most important thing.”
Ali signed off by saying on England’s XI against South Africa, “It's very frustrating because you want to play and make some sort of difference. Yeah, it's difficult when you're not winning and then when you're not playing on top of that, it's hard. But you prepare well and that's all you can do at the minute.”
(With PTI Inputs)
