Former India player turned veteran commentator Aakash Chopra has picked Moeen Ali as one of the potential threats for India in their 2024 T20 World Cup semi-final match against England. He added that the spin-bowling all-rounder could trouble the Indian team with both ball and bat. However, India and England will face off in the second last-four clash in Providence, Guyana, on Thursday, June 27 as well.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra said, “Who could be the threats from the opposing team? Firstly the two openers, whose numbers are not that good against left-arm spin. Then Axar Patel is an important player. You can concentrate more on him. You can focus on Ravindra Jadeja because they are having difficulties against left-arm spin.”
“After that, Harry Brook in batting, and I feel Moeen Ali is a player who can trouble us. He will bowl off-spin and we have four left-handers. Actually not even four, we have Rishabh Pant, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav and Arshdeep Singh. Did we have these many left-handers before this? Since there are so many left-handers, Moeen Ali might have a role, and if we talk about playing spin, Moeen Ali plays spin better. So Moeen Ali could be that dangerous guy. He is this team’s vice-captain,” he again shared.
However, Aakash Chopra also stated that Chris Jordan and Sam Curran could pose threats to India in the bowling department. While observing that Liam Livingstone’s all-round skills and Jofra Archer’s seam bowling could be troubling India, he added that Adil Rashid had troubled India in the last edition’s semi-final.
“Chris Jordan came back in the last match and took a hat-trick as soon as he came. It seemed like his career had been put on ice. He was pulled out from there and he picked up four wickets. Sam Curran isn’t doing that well but he will like this kind of pitch, where he will roll his fingers over the ball. Liam Livingstone’s bowling and batting is a slightly tricky thing. Jofra Archer hasn’t looked that great but he is a wicket-taker and he knows these grounds well. Reece Topley/Mark Wood – don’t know who will play. Adil Rashid had trapped us (in the 2022 T20 World Cup semi-final) and forced us to hit in one direction,” Aakash Chopra concluded.
