Moeen Ali sought advice from former Indian cricketer

Who and why?

Moeen Ali has delivered a stellar performance in this series but he wasn’t so happy with his own performance on Saturday because he felt he couldn’t really utilize the rough outside the right hander’s off-stump. Though Saqlain Mushtaq was present in the dugout, it was Harbhajan Singh, Moeen chose to seek counsel from.

What a listless, spineless, mindless, unprofessional display by #MeninBlue. Disaster strikes for @imVkohli . Shameful display by @SDhawan25, should seek retirement. #MoeenAli #Anderson look menacing . Reminds yu of the total wash of 1974. 4-1 will surely haunt we fans for sure?

— Chaitanya K Prasad (@Chatty111Prasad) September 10, 2018

The advice he got

The former Indian off-spinner said in an interview that Moeen was upset about not being able to use the rough and sought Bhajji’s help to review what he was doing. Because he has played for Surrey and knows how the Oval pitch behaves, Bhajji suggested that Moeen forget the rough completely and focus instead, on his pace. This pitch does not have huge cracks so the focus should be more on the pace, rather than hitting the rough. This pitch certainly was not like the Southampton track where Moeen finished with nine wickets.

#ENGvIND if #MoeenAli looks so threatening in his first over on day 2 Ind in real trouble ahead..How come Ind batsmen are unable 2 Play offspin..We hav struggled against #GreameSwann, #MoeenAli, #NathanLyon & every other offspinner in recent times.. @bhogleharsha @BumbleCricket

— Anand Mohan Chitta (@WittysparkCAM) September 8, 2018

The key is in the cracks

In the absence of large cracks, Bhajji said, outside edge plays a big role too. He told Moeen that he probably won’t get inside edges as easily as at Ageas Bowl, so he should just relax and bowl. Moeen probably took Bhajji’s advice because the 2 wickets he picked up were on the side of the rough and went straight through. Bhajji was more than happy to help and said that the cracks may widen in the second innings and the dynamics are likely to change again. This could prove to be troublesome for India, as they are struggling batting fourth.