Former England all-rounder Moeen Ali has hit back at David Warner, calling the former Australian opener “a bit of a clown” for his recent remarks about Joe Root ahead of the upcoming Ashes series.
Earlier, Warner, while speaking to the BBC, pointed out that Root is yet to score a century in Australia and suggested that Australian pacer Josh Hazlewood would trouble him once again in the Ashes.
“The big anchor there is Root, who is yet to score a hundred in Australia. Hazlewood tends to have his number quite a lot. He will have to take the surfboard off his front leg,” Warner said.
In response, Ali didn’t hold back. Speaking on the Beard Before Wicket podcast, he said: “He’s just being Warner. He’s a bit of a clown to be honest with you. He’s trying to, obviously, get into Rooty’s head, which he won’t. He’s not up for the whole banter thing. It’s just Warner, isn’t it?”
Ali added that Root is experienced enough to ignore such attempts and focus on his game. He also pointed out that different players respond to sledging in different ways. While some, like Jonny Bairstow and Virat Kohli, thrive on confrontation, Root is not one of them.
“There are different ways to do it. Some guys, you just don’t say anything to. Jonny [Bairstow] was another one. He loved it, he was looking for it. Virat [Kohli] the same, looking for a fight, looking for something. But Rooty… the guy has scored so many runs now, he’s been through the whole thing and it won’t effect him. India tried it and it just didn’t work, clearly didn’t work, because he scored loads of runs,” Ali concluded.
Joe Root was in sublime form during the recently concluded Anderson–Tendulkar Trophy, scoring 537 runs in nine innings at an average of 67.12, including three centuries and a fifty. He also became the second-highest run-scorer in the history of Test cricket during the series.
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