Gautam Gambhir recently stepped down as the captain of the Delhi Daredevils (DD) citing the poor performance of his team as a player and as a leader as well. Also, he has decided to play this season for free. The step by the southpaw grabbed a lot of eyeballs and was appreciated by fans across the nation.
Moeen Ali, the English all-rounder who was bought for INR 1.7 crores by the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and he also expressed his desire to play the tournament for free. He hasn’t played a single game for the franchise and is among the two overseas cricketers along with Tim Southee who has been warming the benches so far in the tournament for RCB. He said that he has come here to get the experience and would’ve still travelled if he had to do it for free.
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During an interview with reporters in Mumbai, Ali said,“If you asked me to play in the IPL for free, I would have done. I literally would have come for the experience, especially with the players at RCB like Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Brendon McCullum and Quinton de Kock.” The 30-year-old has played 50 Tests and has snapped 133 wickets to go with 2495 runs at a pretty mediocre average of 32.40.
Ali had a pretty disappointing outing in the Ashes which was followed by another forgettable performance in the first Test against New Zealand at the Eden Park in Auckland, he was eventually dropped for the final Test as well. However, for the all-rounder, the move is a blessing in disguise as it gave him an opportunity to work upon himself.
Talking about his recent performances, Moeen said, “When I didn’t play the last Test in New Zealand it was a relief. I could have been dropped three Tests earlier – I probably should have been – but Joe said he sees me as a match-winner and, with 50 matches of experience; they wanted to give me a longer run. It was almost like: ‘Right, now I can actually work on my game and mentally have a break from the pressure of playing.’ When it’s my time again, I will be ready.”
