England newcomer Moeen Ali has reportedly backed himself as a Test spinner and is hoping to surprise people with the quality of his off-spin bowling during his international debut in the long format against Sri Lanka this week.
Although former England spin-bowling coach Mushtaq Ahmed does not believe that Moeen is ready to become a frontline Test spinner, the county club Worcestershire batsman is feeling 'confident' and might try to confuse batsmen with a 'doosra' he has developed.
According to the BBC, Moeen said that a lot of people have not seen him bowl in the longer format so he hopes that he could surprise a few people.
Moeen, who is expected to make his Test debut along with Middlesex batsman Sam Robson and Sussex fast bowler Chris Jordan in the first of the two matches against Sri Lanka, is reportedly expected to share slow-bowling duties with Joe Root, another specialist batsman and part-time off-spinner.
Moeen, who has a first-class bowling record of 139 wickets at an average of 40, said that he is pretty confident with his bowling, adding that he feels like he has been doing it at Worcestershire for the past two or three years.
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The off-spinner added that he would bowl as tight as he can and is hoping to pick up a few wickets from there.
Moeen, who has recently been working with Worcestershire's overseas player Pakistan spinner Saeed Ajmal to help develop a doosra, said that the delivery is coming along nicely and he is really happy with it at the moment.
Moeen, who is hoping to showcase his doosra talents against Sri Lanka in the opening Test at Lord's on Thursday, also said that Ajmal has helped him a lot, pushing him, giving him a lot of confidence, adding that the doosra does take a lot of time because one bowls a lot of full-tosses in practice.
