England Test captain, Joe Root issued an apology to Moeen Ali for his comments made during a press conference after the visitors suffered a huge loss of 317 runs against India in the second Test. England’s squad was named for the last two Tests after the result of the second Test, and it was revealed that Moeen will be going back home. However, in a press conference after the conclusion of the Test, Root ended up saying that the all-rounder chose to go back home with two Tests still remaining against India.
During the post-match virtual press conference, Joe Root had said, “Moeen has chosen to go home. It’s obviously been a very tricky tour for him. As mentioned at the start, if players feel like they need to get out of the bubble, then that’s been an option. With Moeen it wasn’t more asking if he wanted to stay, it was a decision he had chosen.”
However, as per a report in ESPNcricinfo, Moeen was always slated to return to England after the first two Tests against India and this is all a part of ECB’s rotation policy. This rotation policy has already seen Jos Buttler returning to the country after the first Test. Jonny Bairstow also missed the first two Tests against India as per the rotation policy.
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Root’s comments caused quite a stir on social media, in which fans started to criticize Moeen for heading back home with the Test series hanging in the balance. Seeing how his comments were received, Root paid a visit to up to Moeen in the team hotel and he offered his apology.
Moeen has also accepted this apology rendered by Root and he will be heading back home on a good note, reported ESPNCricinfo. Moeen played the second Test of the ongoing series against India. He managed to scalp eight wickets in the match and scored 43 runs in the second innings.
The visiting had suffered a heavy defeat in the second Test and the series is levelled at 1-1. The off-spinner had tested positive for COVID-19 when England toured Sri Lanka in January and he did not play any Tests there.
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He also did not feature in the first Test against India. India and England will now play in the third Test, which will be a day-night contest, set to begin on February 24 at the Motera Stadium, Ahmedabad.
