Moeen Ali has hit back at David Warner, calling him a “clown” in response to the Australian opener’s jibe that Joe Root would need to “take the surfboard off his front leg” for England to win the Ashes. As England's captivating five-match series with India came to an end, Warner couldn't help but take a swing at his old adversary, even though Root solidified his hold on the top spot in the men's Test rankings this summer.
After a three-month hiatus from the Test arena, England will go to Australia in late November in an attempt to win the Ashes urn for the first time in ten years.
During the series against India, Root overtook Rahul Dravid, Jacques Kallis, and Ricky Ponting to take second place on the all-time Test run-scorer list. The 34-year-old added another century to his name at The Oval but it ended in vain as India snatched victory from the jaws of defeat to level the series.
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Even though Sachin Tendulkar is the only batter ahead of Root in terms of number of runs, Warner implied that the Yorkshireman still had a significant flaw in his style that Australia's spinners will try to exploit.
“The big anchor there is Root, who is yet to score a hundred in Australia,” the outspoken former Australian opener told the BBC. “[Josh] Hazlewood tends to have his number quite a lot. He will have to take the surfboard off his front leg,” Warner added.
Former England fast bowler Stuart Broad, who notably tormented Warner throughout their numerous Ashes clashes, reacted to the comment on Root. “I’ve never heard England’s best ever batters front pad called a surfboard. Just for clarity. Hazlewood has got Rooty LBW in Test Cricket 3 times. Three,” wrote Broad on X.
Former England all-rounder Moeen Ali also has reacted to Warner's statement, claiming that the ex-Australian opener is trying to get into Root's head. “He’s just being Warner. He’s a bit of a clown to be honest with you,” Ali said on the Beard Before Wicket podcast. “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 claimed that Root will be able to disregard Warner's remarks with ease because he has so much experience. “There are certain players that people would have identified to get under their skin in different ways. I remember in the 2016 T20 World Cup final against the West Indies, we were like, right, when [Marlon] Samuels is batting, don’t say anything because he actually plays better sometimes when you get into him… we won’t say anything, leave him alone.
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"But I remember from the first ball, Jason Roy and [Ben] Stokesy were just flying into him and I was thinking Oh my god.
“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 affect him.”
Ali continued: “India tried it [with Root] and it just didn’t work, clearly didn’t work, because he scored loads of runs. But yeah, there’s some players you can do that to and others that you can’t.”
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