INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Moeen Ali has hit out at Australian teams and their "rude" approach to the sport
The England all-rounder recalled a shocking incident during the 2015 Ashes when an unnamed Australian cricketer called him "Osama"
According to the all-rounder, the incident occurred during the first Test in Cardiff
In his autobiography, which is being serialised by The Times, the 31-year-old said that following the racial slur, he was "distracted" for
much of the Test and had "never been so angry on a cricket field"."It was a great first Ashes Test in terms of my personal performance,
however there was one incident which had distracted me," Moeen Ali said as reported by www.dailymail.co.uk."An Australian player had turned
to me on the field and said, "Take that, Osama." I have never been so angry on a cricket field
I told a couple of the guys what the player had said to me and I think Trevor Bayliss must have raised it with Darren Lehmann, the
Lehmann asked the player, "Did you call Moeen Osama" He denied it, saying, "No, I said, "Take that, you part-timer".""I must say I was
amused when I heard that for there is a world of difference between the words "Osama" and "part-timer"
Although I couldn't have mistaken "part-timer" for "Osama", obviously I had to take the player's word for it, though for the rest of the
match I was angry," added the England all-rounder."But our eventual triumph and the Cardiff crowd's reaction to me comforted me that the
Australian player represented nobody."The off-spinner and left-handed batsman first came up against the infamously aggressive Australians in
2015 before his struggles with both bat and ball played a key role in England's 4-0 Ashes defeat 'Down Under' in 2017/18, which led to him
being dropped."Everyone you speak tothey are the only team I've played against my whole life that I've actually disliked," said Moeen
Ali.Moeen Ali, who starred in England's recent 4-1 Test series win over India after being recalled to the side, said he had no sympathy for
the banned Australian trio of former captain Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft, all sent into international isolation for their
roles in a ball-tampering scandal in South Africa in March.(With AFP Inputs)
