"Lack of aggressive way of cricket probably cost England": All-rounder Moeen Ali before crucial Sri Lanka clash

Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], October 25 (ANI): Ahead of England's upcoming match against Sri Lanka in the ongoing World Cup 2023, star all-rounder Moeen Ali acknowledged that the absence of aggression in the defending champions' gameplay has 'cost' his side in the 50-over tournament where they have only registered one victory out of four encounters.
The Three Lions will next face Sri Lanka at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru in what is considered a must-win game for the defending champions.
So far in the tournament, the defending champions have lost three games out of four encounters and need to win the remaining two to keep their prospects of reaching the semifinals alive.
"The thing is, bazball is in Test cricket. One day cricket's different and we've been playing differently all the time. And we've been playing aggressive cricket throughout for the last since 2015 and done it quite well," Moeen Ali said in a pre-match press conference.
However, Ali was brutally honest enough to admit that playing that style of cricket was not always easy, as it required consistent aggression.
"I think probably the lack of that way of cricket has probably cost us a little bit in this tournament we haven't been playing that way in my opinion and I think we need to play that way, but without slogging the ball, but just be that really aggressive side that we know we can be," he added.
Moeen, who has only played one match at the ongoing 2023 World Cup against New Zealand on October 5, believes England must regain confidence in order to turn their fortunes around.
"We're obviously disappointed with the result and not just the result but the way we played so but, in the competition, you've got to move on as quick as you can and regroup. Everything is a must-win and we know we've been in this position before, probably not to this degree, but we know everything is a must-win and we have to get our confidence and perform well and bat and bowl and field better than we have done so far in this tournament," the all-rounder said.
However, the 36-year-old all-rounder anticipated that openers Jonny Bairstow and Dawid Malan, as well as the No. 3 batter, would fire immediately so that the middle-order batters could capitalise.
"Yeah, and it's not always that easy. I mean, I'm sure, obviously, last game, we were chasing 400. So, we had to come out and play shots. And we unfortunately lost Bairstow, who's probably our most attacking player up top. But yeah, most of the time you want the guys to score quickly and score for longer periods, so then it makes it easier for everybody else," Moeen said.
"But it doesn't always work like that, and we all need to score runs and perform. But if you get your openers and your top three firing and they're scoring runs, it certainly helps everybody else and you get in the big scores aside. We've spoken about it, and it's not always easy, we know you can't do it all the time. But the guys are due some runs, and hopefully it's going to come now," he added. (ANI)