Moeen Ali considering coming out of retirement in Test cricket after Brendon McCullum appointment as England Head Coach
England cricketer Moeen Ali has reportedly told New Zealand's Brendon McCullum, the new head coach of the England Test team, that he plans to join the Ben Stokes-led side.
Moeen Ali retired from Test cricket in September last year and the 34-year-old at the time said that he did it to enhance his white-ball career.
The all-rounder played for the Indian Premier League side Chennai Super Kings in his unsuccessful season this year and performed brilliantly with the bat and ball.
A report in DailyMail.co.uk said that Moeen's close friend and fellow spinner Adil Rashid may also be asked to come out of retirement. The 40-year-old McCullum has been tasked with rebuilding the England Test team, the report said. It further states that McCullum may bring in white-ball players like Jos Butler and Liam Livingstone into the team as well.
Moeen has taken a total of 195 wickets and scored 2,914 runs in 64 Tests. A source was quoted in the report as saying that Moeen has a lot of respect for McCullum and will play for the team for him.
England are scheduled to play three Tests in Pakistan at the end of the year and McCullum's task will be to look at spin options on the sub-continent tour after the home series against New Zealand starting at Lord's on June 2.
Moeen is likely to make his way into the Test side during the series in August as he had shown excellent performance in the series against the Proteas four years ago. He scored 252 runs and took 25 wickets in 15 matches, including a hat-trick.
When McCullum was reportedly asked about Moeen's retirement from Tests after taking over as England's Test coach, the New Zealander said, "We will see." Also added that if asked to come out of retirement, Ali won't disagree.
However, according to the report, leg-spinner Rashid's return to Test cricket is under little doubt as he hasn't played any first-class cricket since the Bridgetown Test in January 2019.