Moeen Ali backs team to defend T20 World Cup title: England better in T20Is than ODIs

England all-rounder Moeen Ali has backed his team to defend the T20 World Cup title. Ali, speaking on the sidelines of the Abu Dhabi T10 tournament, said that England were a better team in the T20I format than they are in the ODIs. Ali backed the Jos Buttler side to come back stronger after their ODI World Cup 2023 debacle.

“We want to try and win again. I feel we are a better Twenty20 side. I’m sure we will come back stronger,” Moeen Ali told Gulf News on the sidelines of the T10 tournament.

England had one of their worst World Cup campaigns in recent history, finishing 7th in the points table of the 2023 edition of the tournament. The defending champions started their 2023 tournament with a loss against New Zealand and as the tournament went on, looked like a lost side. The top names, including Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler and Chris Woakes failed to deliver as England finished their campaign at No. 7 on the points table.

Ali explained the reason behind the poor campaign and said that it was unfortunate that England dropped form in the world tournament after playing well for so long.

“We didn’t play well throughout the World Cup. The batters were out of form and it happens in cricket. We’ve been so good over a long period of time now, but it is just one of those things that we just didn’t perform. It is a World Cup and a special one where all teams were good, but we weren’t just good,” Moeen Ali further added.

England’s poor run in the ODI format is not over yet, as the side suffered one more lost in the opening ODI match of series against West Indies. After putting up a 325-run total, England bowled poorly and lost the game by 4 wickets. In the second match of the series, England made a comeback and put up a convincing victory. The third and final match of the ODI series will be played on Saturday, 9 December.