Defending champions Chennai Super Kings are likely to be without the services of English all-rounder Moeen Ali for the 2022 IPL opener.
IPL 2022: Moeen Ali has yet to secure visa to India and is likely to miss CSK’s opening game (CSK Twitter)
HIGHLIGHTS
- Moeen Ali has yet to secure his VISA to attend IPL 2022
- The England international is likely to miss CSK’s opening game against KKR
- Moeen Ali played a key role in CSK’s title win last year
England all-rounder Moeen Ali is yet to obtain his India visa for the 2022 Indian Premier League (IPL) and may miss the Chennai Super Kings’ tournament opener against the Kolkata Knight Riders. Moeen hit 357 runs from 15 innings for CSK in the IPL last year while also taking six wickets from 15 games with his off-spin bowling.
The Super Kings could feel the pinch in their first match considering Moeen’s off-spin would have come in handy against the Knight Riders’ left-handed trio: Venkatesh Iyer, Nitish Rana and Sunil Narine.
CSK, four-time IPL champions, face last edition’s runners-up Kolkata Knight Riders in Saturday’s opening match of IPL 2022 at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. “It has been revealed that Moeen needs to arrive in Mumbai by Wednesday to have a chance to play his team’s first game against 2021 runners-up Knight Riders,” ESPNcricinfo said in a report.
“Considering that Moeen would need to go through the mandatory three-day quarantine to get into the biosecure IPL environment, Super Kings management has accepted that the chances of him playing the opening game appear slim,” the report added . The report goes on to say that if Moeen doesn’t arrive in time, New Zealand batsman Devon Conway is likely to make his IPL debut. “The Super Kings will likely feel the pinch in their first match considering Moeen’s off-spin would have come in handy against the Knight Riders’ left-handed trio: Venkatesh Iyer, Nitish Rana and Sunil Narine,” it said.
Moeen was signed by CSK for his good all-around show that helped the team to their fourth IPL title along with inspirational captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja and Ruturaj Gaikwad.
