England vs India 2018: 5 players who may not live up to the expectations

#5 Moeen Ali

Moeen Ali has been quite a revelation, starting as a top order batsman for England, who used to open alongside Alastair Cook and do the job of hitting the ball hard, while Cook used to maintain his calm innings. Then came the dark period of World Cup 2015, when England failed to make a mark and got eliminated like underdogs, post which, Moeen Ali was reinstated as a leading off-spinner, who would play all the formats and also serve as a lower order batsman with the job to finish off the innings.

Ali has been doing a pretty good job since then, but he seems to have lost the ability to play long innings, which might be needed from him in case English top order batsmen succumb to Indian spinners. He did come in after a similar situation in the 1st ODI, but was unable to build a much-needed partnership and was one of the only 2 batsmen who got out to fast bowlers. Thus, Moeen might not be able to stick at the crease and construct a partnership while Indian spinners are at their job. With the ball too, he has been fairly effective against non-subcontinental sides, but its a different ball game against India altogether. Being good players of spin, Indian batsmen will be tough nuts to crack for Moeen Ali.