Sunil Gavaskar Feels India Gifted Wickets to Moeen Ali

A batting all-rounder who bowls? A part-time spinner? Or a series-altering bowler in disguise? England's Moeen Ali has been the thorn in the Indian flesh in the five-match Test series in England so far. While a lot of ex-cricketers and the current England captain Alastair Cook have commended Ali for making some of the best players of spin bowling dance to his tunes, former Indian captain and NDTV expert Sunil Gavaskar reckons the Indian batsmen have merely gifted their wickets to Moeen in a bid to collect easy runs. (Quick-Learner Moeen Has Knocked India Out & His Critics)

"What happens sometimes is that when there is a world-class bowler bowling from one end, you tend to go after a bowler who you think is not as good. People have tried to score off Moeen Ali because James Anderson and Stuart Broad from the other end aren't bowling any boundary balls. Apart from one of two dismissals, Moeen Ali has hardly got a wicket off a delivery that has spun or done something off the wicket. Because the batsmen are looking to score easy runs, they have lost their wickets to him."

Only second behind James Anderson (21) in the list of highest wicket-takers in the series,  Ali has accounted for 19 Indian wickets, four of which came on the third day of the fourth Test at Manchester where India lost as many as nine wickets inside a session to suffer a shambolic innings defeat, conceding an insurmountable 2-1 lead to the hosts.

While the victory in the second Test at Lord's was a special one, India's away form has constantly deteriorated. In the last five years, India have played 27 Tests away from home, winning just six and losing 14 while seven have ended in draws. Dhoni has captained India in 13 of those losses and is only three away from equaling the worst record ever for a captain in overseas Tests, held by New Zealand's Stephen Fleming and West Indies' Brian Lara.

Gavaskar, however, refused to be overtly critical of the Indian side. He said, "Yes over the last five-six years, the [Test] record has been disappointing. There were two bright sparks in the World Cup 2011 and ICC Champions Trophy 2013 wins but as far as Tests are concerned India have been struggling. But you have to remember this is a team in transition. Only a couple of years back we lost a lot of our top players. Some of the best players in the history of the game have retired so I think it's a bit difficult for the young players to fill in the boots and gaps left by the stalwarts. In that sense, we need to be a bit patient."

If their woeful form continues, the fourth-placed Indian side could slip further in the ICC Test rankings. But Gavaskar felt India weren't a bad Test team; they were suffering from a collective failure of form. "It's one of those unfortunate situations where virtually all of them are going through the leanest patches of their careers," he said.

Down but not entirely out, India now take on England in the fifth and final Test at Old Trafford, starting on August 15, with the aim to level the five-match series.