Moeen Ali: “There’s many players that I bowled at, and great players, but one player that would make me feel pressure was Misbah-ul-Haq”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
England spin-bowling all-rounder Moeen Ali has admitted that former Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq was one batsman who really made him feel pressure when bowling.
Moeen recalled a time when he bowled to Misbah and how the 51-year-old took him apart, even though he tried to cut off his scoring opportunities.
Misbah, who used to be Pakistan’s head coach and was chief selector as well, played 75 Tests and scored 5,222 runs, which included 10 centuries and 39 fifties, at an average of 46.62.
He also featured in 162 ODIs and accumulated 5,122 runs, which included 42 half-centuries, at an average of 43.40.
As for his T20 International career, the Mianwali native finished with 788 runs in 39 games, which included three fifties, at an average of 37.52.
“There’s many players that I bowled at, and great players, but one player that would make me feel pressure was Misbah-ul-Haq. The reason for that was I was quite inexperienced and I remember coming out to bowl to him. First two balls, two reverse sweeps in different directions. When I placed a fielder there, he swept me on the leg side. When I blocked the sweeps, he would just hit me straight,” Moeen said on the Beard Before Wicket podcast as quoted by PakPassion on X, formerly known as Twitter.
The Pakistan team recently played a three-match T20I series against Bangladesh in Lahore, which they won 3-0.
They then toured Bangladesh for three T20Is, but ended up being beaten 2-1.
Next up was a limited overs tour of the West Indies, where they won the T20Is 2-1 but lost the ODIs 2-1.
Most recently, the men in green took on the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Afghanistan in a T20I tri-series in Sharjah, which they won.
Pakistan are now involved in the 2025 Asia Cup, which is being held in the UAE.
In the group stage, Pakistan defeated Oman and the UAE, but lost to India.
They still managed to make it through to the Super Four, which started with them falling to India once again.
Pakistan will look to bounce back when they face Sri Lanka on September 23 in Abu Dhabi.
Pakistan squad for UAE T20I tri-series and 2025 Asia Cup: Salman Ali Agha (captain), Abrar Ahmed, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Hasan Nawaz, Hussain Talat, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Haris (wicketkeeper), Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Salman Mirza, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufiyan Muqeem
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