England cricketers like Jofra Archer and Sam Billings have come to Moeen Ali's defence after he was targeted by Taslima Nasreen in a widely-condemned tweet in which she wrote: "If Moeen Ali were not stuck with cricket, he would have gone to Syria to join ISIS". Taslima Nasreen later deleted that post and wrote in a separate tweet that she was being "sarcastic".
"Haters know very well that my Moeen Ali tweet was sarcastic. But they made that an issue to humiliate me because I try to secularize Muslim society & I oppose Islamic fanaticism. One of the greatest tragedies of humankind is pro-women leftists support anti-women Islamists," wrote Taslima Nasreen.
England fast bowler Jofra Archer, batsman Sam Billings and Saqib Mahmood were among those who tore into the author's offensive post.
Replying to Nasreen's original tweet, Archer wrote, "Are you okay ? I don't think you're okay".
He also blasted Nasreen's attempt at damage control with her second tweet.
"Sarcastic? No one is laughing, not even yourself, the least you can do is delete the tweet," Archer wrote.
Sam Billings and Saqib Mahmood described Nasreen's comments as "disgusting".
Moeen Ali is currently in India, preparing for IPL 2021 where he will be representing Virat Kohli-led Royal Challengers Bangalore.
The all-rounder has represented his national team in all three formats. He has played 61 Tests, 109 ODIs and 34 T20Is for the England national team.