"Thank you, Mo!" Fans bid emotional adieu to Moeen Ali as he retires from international cricket

Moeen Ali made his international debut in 2014 and played a total of 298 matches for England.

Veteran England all-rounder Moeen Ali has called time on his international career at the age of 37.

Ali was not picked in England’s ODI and T20I squads to face Australia at home this summer. In an interview with the Daily Mail, Ali revealed that he was told he won’t be selected for the white-ball matches against Australia and that he doesn’t hold a place in England’s future plans.

“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,” Ali told Daily Mail.

The off-spinning all-rounder retires from international cricket having featured in 68 Tests, 138 ODIs and 92 T20Is. In those, he scored 6678 and cracked eight hundreds, along with picking up 366 wickets.

He was part of the title-winning squads in the 2019 World Cup and 2022 T20 World Cup.

The team needs to evolve into another cycle: Moeen Ali

Ali was also part of the England sides that suffered disappointing exits at the World Cup 2023 and T20 World Cup 2024.

The all-rounder reckons he’s still good enough to have another crack at international cricket but accepted the selectors and management’s call to be excluded from the team.

“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,” he added.

Fans on social media hailed Moeen for his illustrious international career.

This is how fans reacted to Moeen Ali’s retirement news:

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