Moeen Ali: Cricket is important but nowhere near as important as Islam

New Delhi: Ahead of the first Test against Pakistan, England all-rounder made some interesting remarks about the importance of cricket and religion in his life.

Speaking to the BBC, Ali stated that Islam was the most important thing in his life and that he could even give up his cricket career for it.

The 29-year-old described in great detail what Islam meant to him and how the religion had helped him evolve as a human being.

"At the back of my mind there is a responsibility that I am representing Islam, Muslims and British Asians. It is a positive thing. As long as I perform, which is the most the most important thing and I can behave.The most important thing of everything, it is something that, I feel like it makes me feel free and the one I wanted to be all my life. As a youngster, I was far from it. When I was about 18-19, I decided that this is the way I want to live my life.  

"It is the only thing that can give me happiness. Cricket is important but nowhere near as important as Islam, if I have to give up cricket tomorrow, it will be easy," he said.

Moeen has been a key member of England's cricket set-up in recent years. Apart from batting, his off-spin bowling has come in handy in Tests and T20Is.

Few months back, he had criticized the Birmingham airport authorities for having stopped him for close to forty minutes. Ali then went on to add that such a thing never happened whenever he traveled with the Englad squad.

In the interview he also admitted that minorities in the United Kingdom face a certain degree of threat in today's times and needed to be on their guard at all times.