Moeen Ali’s fourth century of the calendar year was a performance of two distinct parts. But his success has intensified the debate about his role in the side
George Dobell in Chennai16-Dec-20162:57
Trott: Moeen took advantage of his reprieve
If you had taken your seat at Chepauk on Friday morning having never seen Moeen Ali bat, you would have been forgiven for wondering how on earth he found himself batting in the top four.But had you only taken your seat in the afternoon session, you would have been forgiven for wondering how he had ever found himself batting down at No. 8 or 9.For this innings was a microcosm of Moeen’s Test career with the bat. Like Beauty and the Beast rolled into one, it was, in turns, awful and ugly and brilliant and beautiful. It rarely hinted at permanence, but contained several strokes of rare quality. As he persuaded some balls to the boundary and flirted footlessly at others, he provided a demonstration of all his strengths and all his weaknesses. It was just a little bit Goweresque.He was beaten like a snare drum in the early stages. He was dropped before he had scored – the second match in succession an England centurion had benefited in such fashion – after trying to flick one over midwicket, and then survived a couple of early wafts against Ravi Ashwin that suggested a lack of confidence in his own defensive technique. He also saw an attempted flick into the leg side dart towards point off a leading edge. That he made it to lunch unbeaten (on 7 from 44 balls) was little short of a miracle.At that stage, it seemed safe to conclude that this was Moeen’s last foray into the top order. This was, after all, his 11th innings in the top four (one at No. 3, four at No. 4 and six as an opener) and they had brought seven scores under 20 and a best of 50. Some of the dismissals – not least hooking a bouncer to the men placed for the shot in the first innings in Mohali, or scooping to mid-on in the second – were just too soft to sustain the experiment.But after the interval he was a different man. Apparently determined to be more aggressive, he slog-swept both left-arm and offspin, he skipped down the track and, even though Ravi Ashwin beat him in the flight and he didn’t quite make it to the pitch of the ball, he carried through with the stroke and cleared the field. He played with the uncompromised conviction that is the mantra of Trevor Bayliss and provided a pretty decent advert for the virtues of the approach.He had some fortune. Having a man with the class of Joe Root at the other end for the first portion of his innings ensured there was little scoreboard pressure; Moeen contributed just 13 of the first 50 runs they added together. And, while the only bouncer that Umesh Yadav bowled at him resulted in an attempted pull that spooned just over midwicket, it was a line of attack that India failed to exploit. Ishant Sharma bowled him three more, but it seemed an odd oversight.Moeen Ali grew in fluency after a scratchy start•AFPThere were a couple of decent lbw shouts after that but Moeen, learning the lessons from earlier in the series, ensured he had his pad outside the line of the stumps and, once he had reached 40, was hardly troubled. Amit Mishra, whose relative lack of pace allowed Moeen time to skip down the pitch to him, came in for particular punishment, but he also coped with Ashwin admirably after that torturous first hour. He had given England a decent chance of the sort of imposing first-innings total that could end this demanding tour with a consolation victory. Two more sessions of batting may be required, though.It was Moeen’s second century of the series – the first was made while batting at No. 5 in Rajkot – and the fourth of a calendar year that has seen him become one of just five men to record 1,000 Test runs in 2016. While the inclusion of four England players in that list underlines the huge amount of Test cricket they have played, that still represents a fine achievement. His average for the year (48.00) is almost six higher than Alastair Cook’s (42.10) and less than two fewer than Joe Root’s (50.20).Where does it leave him in the future? Back at No. 7 or 8, probably. With Jonny Bairstow pencilled in to stay at No. 5 (he is clearly good enough to bat at No. 4 but the England management are keen to provide him with a break between batting and keeping) and Ben Stokes looking settled at No. 6, those are the obvious vacancies. Root could well return to No. 4 – especially if Keaton Jennings makes a strong case for his retention at the start of the next English season – leaving Moeen squeezed out of the top order. Besides, for all the charm and fluency of his batting, we have probably seen enough now to appreciate that consistency is unlikely to be one of his strengths. There are too many flaws, too many foibles. And top-four players need to at least offer the potential of consistency.Ideally, he would bat no lower than No. 7 and be given the chance to establish himself there without further confusion. Batting at No. 8 will be an obvious temptation – it allows room for Jos Buttler at No. 7 and still allows room for four seamers (including Stokes) – but Moeen’s record there is poor. Often forced to accelerate before he is ready, he averages only 28.06 in 19 innings there. At No. 7, high enough to placate his batsman’s pride and low enough to alleviate the worst of the pressure of expectation, he averages 87.85 in 10 innings.The other issue he faces is the possibility that he has been replaced as England’s first-choice spinner. Adil Rashid has claimed far more wickets than him this series (22 to nine) and has been referred to as England’s “best spinner” by the coach, Trevor Bayliss. There won’t be too many surfaces in England when they require two spinners, though they may conclude that, such is their allround strength, they have room for both Rashid and Moeen.Recognising this problem some weeks ago, the England management have given Moeen a chance to establish himself as a specialist batsman (and support spin bowler) in recent weeks. As Bayliss said after the Mumbai Test: “We came here to give Moeen a chance to cement a spot in the top six and play more as a bat and, as we saw in the first three games, the third spinner.”This century may convince them that he has taken the chance. But Moeen, who batted everywhere from one to nine in his first 35 Tests, has emerged as England’s ultimate utility player and is likely to remain in a floating role in the immediate future. If England’s priority is getting the best out of Moeen, they will probably bat him at No. 7 or higher, but if the priority is what is best for the side, it is understandable that, despite all the runs this year, he plays his next Test as a No. 8.