"My role as a person, as a Muslim, is to show Muslims are not bad" - Moeen Ali calls out racism in cricket
Former England cricketer Moeen Ali has called out racism over the years in cricket, claiming that his role as a Muslim and a person is to show that people from his community are not bad. Nevertheless, the all-rounder has admitted that the gap between Muslim and other cricketers has narrowed than before.
The Warwickshire all-rounder is one of the few Muslim cricketers to have represented England at the highest level and shares a close bond with Adil Rashid. Moeen has played 68 Tests, 138 ODIs, and 92 T20Is since making his debut in 2014.
Speaking to Sky Sports, the 37-year-old has revealed that he consistently tried to educate his England teammates about his faith. Moeen feels it has made a difference, given the amount of negativity around the subject. He stated:
"I think that gap has been closed - not completely, but I think it is closer together than it's ever been. Especially around the England changing room. Guys who interacted with me probably didn't have that same interaction or as close interaction with other muslim people. I just hope that even one person has been like, 'you know what, Muslims are not bad people and they're just normal or good, whatever it is', because there's a lot of negativity around that sort of subject anyway. My role as a person, as a Muslim, is to show people - not tell people - that actually, muslims are not bad."
Moeen Ali played his final game for the national team in the T20 World Cup 2024 semifinal vs India. However, he continues to play franchise cricket and is part of the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in IPL 2025.
"I will hopefully get the rewards of people performing for England" - Moeen Ali
Moeen Ali, who is on the verge of finishing his level-three coaching qualification, hopes to get an opportunity as a coach after winning accolades for England. He said:
"I really enjoy the team environment. I enjoy inspiring, motivating and helping, really, so I will hopefully get the rewards of people performing for England. It's about the players and trying to improve people, not just as players but as people. The things that really stick out are when people say, 'my kid loves cricket because of you' or 'my son's a big fan or my daughter's a massive fan.'"
Moeen will also retire from County cricket this summer. The southpaw has played 202 first-class matches, scoring over 11000 runs, including 20 hundreds and 70 half-centuries.