While the English all-rounder Moeen Ali will have to play a big role in the Sri Lanka tour, he is confident that his previous experiences on the Asian soil will help him to perform better.
In their Sri Lanka tour, starting the international matches on October 10, England will play five-match ODI series, one-off T20I and three-match T20I series.
Talking about his role in this tour, Ali said, “It’s always nice to tour somewhere where you think you’re going to play a big role – it does give you that extra bit more. It’s never a guarantee that you’re going to go well. I’ve had that experience as well, going to India and stuff. You’ve got to stay calm about it – can’t get too far ahead.”
Prior to the five-match ODI series, England played two 50-over warm-up matches against Sri Lanka Board XI where England won once and another one was washed out in rain.
In the resulted warm-up match, England won by 43 runs (DLS method) after Sri Lanka Board XI managed to score 287/9 (50 overs) at the first batting while England scored 215/2 (35.3 overs) before bad light stopped the play. In the chasing, Joe Root (90*) and the skipper Eoin Morgan (91*) were the heroes, while Moeen Ali was the hero with the ball in hand as the off-spinner bagged three wickets and had the bowling figure of 10-0-42-3.
Ali feels the warm-up match performance is good for his own confidence but also believes it is not going to be an easy task.
Ali said, “It’s good for my own confidence to get a couple of wickets up front against two of their more international type of players. It was nice to get them in the Powerplay. These guys are used to these conditions, and they are good players in these conditions. It’s not going to be as easy as people think, but as a spinner you do have things in your favour, and that always helps.
“I thought we bowled well as a team to keep them down – it was a very good wicket. It was nice to come out and break that partnership initially and then to get the other guy out. It was good for your confidence.”
Ali has impressed the way England’s limited-overs skipper Eoin Morgan (91*) played in the first warm-up game, that England won.
Ali said about Morgan, “He’s a fantastic player of spin, and I personally love the way he plays when he plays like this – with intent. It’s great to see some of the shots that he played today.”
Till the date, England has won only one bilateral ODI series in Sri Lanka in 2007/08 while they have suffered four bilateral ODI series defeat in this tour history. As the present no.1 ODI side, England is determined to start this tour with a victory as the first ODI will be played on October 10.
Ali said on this, “As the No. 1 side now, you don’t want to come here and start with a loss, especially to a side that’s not their main side. The philosophy that Trev (Bayliss) and Morg have tried to emphasise is that we need to win these games quite comfortably. As a side you don’t want to stumble.”
