Guwahati, March 27 (H.S.): Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) all-rounder Moeen Ali played a crucial role in leading his team to their first victory with a brilliant performance against Rajasthan Royals (RR) on Wednesday. He took 2 wickets for 23 runs and especially drew everyone's attention by bowling Nitish Rana out with a classic off-spin delivery.
In the post-match press conference, Moeen Ali discussed his bowling strategy, stating, I always think like a batsman, that is my strength. It helps me understand what the opposing batsman is trying to do.
KKR needed an effective bowler in the absence of their leading spinner and last season’s Most Valuable Player Sunil Narine. Captain Ajinkya Rahane placed his trust in Moeen Ali, who made a remarkable debut for his franchise with impressive figures of 2 wickets for 23 runs.
Along with Varun Chakravarthy's economical bowling (2/17), Moeen Ali also delivered an impressive spin attack and played a pivotal role in restricting Rajasthan Royals to a score of 151/9 in Guwahati. Moeen described his role as the second spinner in the and said he has always enjoyed this position.
Moeen Ali said, I bowled before Varun, so it was my responsibility to bowl as tightly as possible, so that he could create pressure and take wickets. I have always bowled alongside spinners who are better than me and have more variations than I do. So my role is to contain runs and set the stage for the other bowler to take wickets.
Moeen Ali took the wicket of Yashasvi Jaiswal, but the way he bowled Nitish Rana out with a classic off-spin delivery garnered the most headlines. Reacting to this, he said, That delivery was really good. I just tried to bowl in the right area and spin it as much as possible. My strength is that I think like a batsman, which gives me an idea of what the opposing batsman might be thinking.
Moeen Ali, who could only bowl 48 balls for Chennai Super Kings last season, revealed that he learned about his inclusion in KKR's playing XI only on the morning of the match day.
Moeen said, I always try to stay ready. I found out in the morning that Sunil Narine was unwell and that I would have to be ready to play. It's tough to take his place, but I tried to do my job well.
Speaking about the performance on a spin-friendly pitch, he said, The pitch today was assisting the spinners. You can't score 300 runs on such wickets; maybe even 200 runs would be difficult. It's a good thing that matches like this are happening amidst high-scoring encounters.
Although Moeen Ali was not KKR's first choice, he expressed no complaints about it. He acknowledged that making a place in a great team is not easy.
Moeen said, I am still trying to learn and have the desire to improve my game even at the age of 37. KKR is a balanced team with a fantastic line-up of foreign players. Players like Narine and Andre Russell always play, and Quinton de Kock is also an important part of the team, so making a place is difficult. But this is the hallmark of big teams.
With Moeen Ali's outstanding performance, KKR secured their first win of the tournament and proved that he is still a world-class spin all-rounder.
Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar
