Mumbai, May 9: Four England cricketers making a big statement at IPL 2022, bodes well for their white-ball team as they prepare for the ICC T20 World Cup in Australia later this year.
With right-hander Jos Buttler doing exceptionally well for Rajasthan Royals and Liam Livingstone and Jonny Bairstow making a statement for Punjab Kings, stalwart and skillful batsman Moeen Ali joined the party as he took three crucial wickets as Chennai Super Kings thrashed Delhi Capitals in DY Patil Stadium for 91 runs on Sunday night.
On Sunday, thanks to Moeen’s three-wicket effort (3/13 in four overs) and New Zealand batsman Devon Conway’s 49-ball 87, defending champions CSK moved up a rung, to No. 8 in the IPL table with eight points, to keep their dim hopes of qualifying for the playoffs alive.
Moeen, it seems, has turned back the clock with impressive back-to-back IPL performances. He has taken five wickets from his last two matches, and those scalps have included world-class players like Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis, Mitch Marsh and Rishabh Pant.
The experienced 34-year-old could prove difficult to face at the T20 World Cup in Australia later this year, and it wouldn’t be a surprise if he lands a place in the squad, given his usefulness to the team. The veteran spinner also played a key role at last year’s ICC T20 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates, making vital contributions with both bat and ball as Eoin Morgan-led England reached the semi-finals.
They lost to New Zealand in the quarter-finals, but not before Moeen emerged as the only player on the team to post an unbeaten half-century in the match.
Right-handed batsman Jos Buttler also continues to dominate at the top of the Rajasthan Royals order, having amassed a total of 618 runs in 11 innings to be the highest run scorer in the tournament. Buttler has three centuries and three half-centuries to his name and his strike rate of 152.21 is among the best for all hitters.
Liam Livingstone is impressing for Punjab Kings with 315 runs from 11 innings while veteran Jonny Bairstow has 136 runs from eight hits for Punjab Kings.
The four could end up becoming the combination England need to lift the T20 World Cup trophy in Australia this year after their near miss in the tournament last year.