Indian cricket is currently sweating over two retirements in particular: MS Dhoni’s from the IPL, and more importantly, Rohit Sharma’s from international cricket. World cricket is jostling with the mushrooming importance of T20 franchise leagues and recommendations from the World Cricket Association that criticise the ICC for giving more importance to international cricket. Moeen Ali, former England player who now plays for KKR in the IPL, has his thoughts on the issues. Without taking individual names of Indian cricketers he makes a point about players in general.
At 37, Moeen seems a contented man these days. He has his reasons. Moeen has won Ashes, ODI World Cup, T20 World Cup and has been part of two IPL winning teams. He is also a role model for British Muslims. A man with firm views who retired from international cricket on his own terms, plays the T20 leagues now with a plan to become a coach in the future.
Moeen makes an interesting distinction between retiring from international cricket and T20 leagues like the IPL.
“Franchisee cricket is one thing, which is like a privately owned enterprise. You can continue playing if the franchisee is fine with it,” Moeen told The Indian Express. “And it is a T20. But when you’re representing a country, be it a Test or an ODI, the self-reflection should be harder. If England was a franchise, I would have carried on playing because I know I am capable. But because it’s England and it’s international cricket, and there is always a bigger group of players to pick from, I retired to make way.”
When it’s put across that some Indian players are huge stars and it might be difficult for even the selectors to make the tough call on them, Moeen says, “it’s better if it comes from the individuals of course” but has his say on the stardom.
“I definitely think you shouldn’t just hold on because you’re a big name or you have a massive following. And it should never be your own personal goals.”
Moeen says the onus to retire can come from the individuals themselves. “Don’t just hold on for the sake of holding on in a selfish way. Just be a bit more realistic and think, is it worth me holding on? Have I got more to give to the team? If the team wants to go in a new direction, I think you should allow that to happen. If you’re not performing and you’re at that age where you’re a bit older and there’s younger players coming through and they’re probably playing better than you right now. It doesn’t mean they’re better than you now, but they’re playing better than you. Then you should be a bit more realistic and honest with yourself.”
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It’s important to see the direction in which the team intends to head, says Moeen. “For example, it was fine for James Anderson to play until 40 as he was still good, and at that stage England wanted to go in a different direction with youngsters; so he had to step down. If the team wants to go younger, you take the hint and you move on.”
To elucidate his IPL vs country distinction, Moeen, who played four years for CSK, brings up the issue of MS Dhoni’s retirement. “Is there a better keeper than Dhoni right now? He’s still keeping amazingly well. He’s probably one of the better batters in CSK so far this year. And when I was there, he was one of the better batters all the time. CSK haven’t been batting so well and some are saying somebody should come in for Dhoni. And this is what happens when a team doesn’t win. And as I said playing in the IPL is different from representing your country with a larger pool of available talent.”
Moeen is also realistic about the debate over Test cricket’s future. “It is scary the way its going with so many T20 leagues crunching international cricket. T20 cricket is nowhere near as hard as Test cricket. No doubt about that. But the world is changing, I see lots of younger players are more focussed about just playing in IPL or other T20s. That’s the way it is.”
He reckons Test cricket will be reduced to a four-day event soon. “I see them as four-day games as that frees up valuable time from the calendar. I also see teams playing just a three-Test series rather than five Tests.”
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Moeen has a solution to ease the burden of too much cricket in the calendar and add more meaning to the contests. “The bilateral T20 and ODI series is beginning to lose attraction now. Instead, I wish the countries would play more tri-series with whiteball. Like they used to do in the distant past. I think you’re basically killing two birds with one stone in terms of that. You can play Pakistan, New Zealand, India there or Australia, South Africa, England or whatever the case may be. Different tri-series happening around can add value and spectator interest. Then we have the Champions Trophy and the world cups of course.”