England all-rounder Moeen Ali, is set to announce his retirement from the longer format of the game. In a recent of ESPNcricinfo stated that he is not comfortable with the prospect of the time away from home in the upcoming months due to the mega event – T20 World Cup and then Ashes.

Moeen, 34, has played 64 Tests. He is currently in the UAE, as he is playing for Chennai Super Kings in the second phase of the IPL 2021. And, he is likely to have informed Chris Silverwood and Joe Root, the England head coach and  England’s Test captain respectively. However, he is keen to continue his career in limited-overs cricket as well as in county and franchise cricket as well.

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However, he became irregular in the longer format for England in recent times and the debate over whether England did well by dropping him from some games in recent times will be there too. Moreover, he was asked to play multiple roles as he batted everywhere from No. 1 to No. 9 in the playing XI – to accommodate himself with the demands of more valued players in the term as well. And with this, he provided some crucial cameos at the lower order as well.

Moreover, the dependency on him for his bowling seemed less as Ed Smith, then the national selector said “the role of first-choice spinner might not be best suited to him” and, along with this, he was not given a full central contract at the end of 2019, which saw a strange relationship of him with the team management. Moreover, when he was dropped, after the first Ashes Test of the 2019 series, he was the world’s top wicket-taker in the longer format over the preceding 12 months as well.

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He has a hat-trick, five centuries, five five-fors and some sharp catches in his Test cricket career over recent years. Apart from this, he’s a World Cup winner with more than 200 international caps in his name, alongside an IPL contract as well. However, it will be interesting to see what is in store for him there.