England vs India 2014: Indian batsmen need to be fearless against Moeen Ali

Zee Media Bureau/Suyash Srivastava

New Delhi: One of the biggest disappointment of the ongoing India vs England series, has been the vulnerability of MS Dhoni and his boys against hosts` off-spinner Moeen Ali. Moeen Ali, whose major role in the squad is to stitch crucial partnerships in the middle-order, has surprised everybody with his wicket-taking skills. Such has been his form, that with 19 wickets in his kitty, he is just two short of James Anderson, who is the leading wicket-taker in the series with 21 scalps. It`s not that he is turning the ball a lot. It`s just that he is bowling with an accurate length and is slightly quicker through the air. The Indian batsmen are so low on confidence, that they have hardly taken any chances to disrupt his rhythm. When England toured India in 2012, after losing the first Test, Alastair Cook decided to counter-attack Pragyan Ojha and Ravichandran Ashwin, two spinners who played a major role in giving India a 1-0 lead after the first Test. His move worked, as not only the spinners lost their rhythm, but it also gave other English batsmen confidence to bat against the tweakers. India need to come up with a similar approach. While it would be difficult for them to negotiate with Anderson and Broad`s swing, Indian batsmen should make sure to not let Ali find his rhythm.