‘I feel Moeen Ali is a player who can trouble us’ – Aakash Chopra thinks all-rounder might be potential threat to India in semi-final

Aakash Chopra and Moeen Ali. (Source – Twitter/X)

While there is ample speculation regarding the weather conditions for the second semi-final of the T20 World Cup between England and India at the Providence Stadium in Guyana with numerous journalists and correspondents offering real-time updates on the situation, there has been comparatively little focus on the actual encounter between the two heavyweights.

That’s precisely the topic former Indian cricketer, Aakash Chopra, discussed. He analyzed potential threats from England for India, starting with openers, Jos Buttler and Phil Salt. Although he noted that both players have relatively poor stats against left-arm spin, he emphasized that the duo of Axar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja would be crucial for India in containing the English openers.

“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,” stated Chopra on a video posted on his YouTube channel.

Also Read: England could actually go with four spinners against India in semi-final: Paul Collingwood

Continuing further, he noted that the explosive and aggressive Harry Brook (120 runs in 3 innings) would be another player to watch. However, he emphasized that the primary threat to be wary of was Moeen Ali. Chopra believed that Ali’s crafty off-spin could be particularly effective against the Indian batting lineup, comprising a total of six left-handers.

“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,” the former Indian opener added.

So, Moeen Ali could be that dangerous guy: Chopra

After posing an open-ended question regarding whether India ever featured seven left-handed batters in their playing XI, he also highlighted the English vice-captain’s predatory batting against spin, with Chopra tagging Moeen as one of the better players of spin amongst other batters in his side.

Also Read: Michael Vaughan accuses ICC of bias in T20 World Cup schedule

“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,” concluded Chopra.

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