England all-rounder Moeen Ali has retired from international cricket after being left out from the squad for the white ball series against Australia. In an exclusive interview with Daily Mail he said, ‘Playing for England were the best days of my life'.
He added, "I'm 37 years old and didn't get picked for this month's Australia series. I've played a lot of cricket for England. It's time for the next generation, which was also explained to me. It felt the time was right. I've done my part."
Over his decade-long career, Moeen has scored 6,678 runs and taken 366 wickets for England across all formats.His final international appearance was in England's semi-final defeat to India at the ICC T20 World Cup in Guyana.
"Even now, I've tried to be realistic. I could hold on and try to play for England again, but I know in reality I won't. Even retiring, I don't feel it's because I'm not good enough -- I still feel I can play. But I get how things are, and the team needs to evolve into another cycle. It's about being real to myself."
Moeen Ali's England stats
Moeen was a part of England's ODI World Cup-winning squad in 2019 and the T20 World Cup-winning squad in 2022.The all-rounder represented England in 138 ODI matches, scoring 2,355 runs and picking up 111 wickets.
In the T20I format he featured for his country in 92 matches, scoring 1,229 runs at a strike rate of 142.41. He picked up a total of 51 wickets as well.
Looking back at his Test career Moeen made his Test debut in 2014 against Sri Lanka at Lord's. His career in longest format of the game spanned for 68 matches in which he scored 3,094 runs at an average of 28.12 across with five hundreds and 15 fifties.Moeen also took 204 wickets at 37.31. He has 5 five-wicket hauls and one 10-for
Moeen Li's upcoming tournament
Moeen is preparing for his debut season in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL), having joined as a replacement player for reigning champions Guyana Amazon Warriors.
Over the past year, he has also played for Chennai Super Kings in the IPL, Joburg Super Kings in SA20, and Chittagong Vikings in the BPL.
