The pair of Moeen Ali and Alastair Cook had a rather bizarre on-air spat as they debated Joe Root's captaincy as pundits for BT Sports.
Joe Root's captaincy as England's Test skipper has come under the scanner of late after England were handed a drubbing in the Ashes 2021-22. The Three-Lions suffered three consecutive losses in the series under Root, and as such, there have been calls for Ben Stokes to replace Joe Root midway through the series.
In the meanwhile, Moeen Ali and Alastair Cook were present as pundits on BT Sports, the pair of them were discussing Root's captaincy, however, the discussion took an ugly turn as they got involved in a rather awkward spat, on live television.
It all began with Moeen Ali questioning Alastair Cook's approach to the game. Ali, who has played under the captaincy of both Cook and Joe Root, stated that the current Test skipper has more 'emotional attachment' to his players.
"Rooty has a bit more of an emotional attachment with the players, he spends more time with the players," Ali said. His statement got Alastair Cook all fired up who then asked, "Are you just criticising my captaincy?"
Ali then replied, "I am a little bit, yeah. They're both very different. I did do better with the bat under Cooky but with the ball I was better with Rooty."
Cook though retaliated strongly against Ali's statements by highlighting he never dropped Moeen Ali from the team.
"I have to say, I never dropped Mo," stated Cook. He further continued, "So he might criticise me but I never dropped him. How many times did Rooty drop you?"
The verbal argument continued to rage on, as Ali then replied by pointing out that Cook had forced Moeen Ali to bat in multiple positions. "That's true, but he also batted me from one to nine in my first year of international cricket," replied Ali.
In the meanwhile, the BT Sports presenter tried his best to calm down the situation but couldn't achieve much despite his best efforts. Later, the duo did eventually settle down their heated debate, but it was clearly visible that they didn't agree with each others' claims. Australian fans might have enjoyed the conversation between Ali and Cook, every bit.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
 "Moeen Ali, Alastair Cook")
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}