Chennai's star cricketer set to come out of retirement to play Test Cricket again

English all-rounder, Moeen Ali is likely to come out of the Test retirement and could be part of England’s Test team for the upcoming series against New Zealand. As per reports, Ali has told McCullum that he would come out of the Test retirement and join the England Test squad.

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For the unversed, the English all-rounder announced his retirement from Test Cricket in September last year, reasoning that he wished to do it in a bid to prolong his white-ball career. A report in dailymail.co.uk added that Moeen’s close friend and fellow spinner Adil Rashid “could be tempted too” to come out of retirement.

Brendon McCullum, who has been appointed as England’s new head coach in Test Cricket has expressed his desire to add the likes of Liam Livingstone and Jos Buttler to add strength to the Test team. Buttler had a forgettable outing in the Ashes series against England. He struggled to survive on the bouncy pitches in Australia, however, McCullum wants him to be back into the Test side.

"Jos is one of those players you look at instantly and think how could he be so dominant in one form of the game and not quite have found his feet, other than a few fleeting performances, in Test cricket?

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"There's no reason why, if you're good at T20, you can't bring those skills into Test cricket," McCullum said on Buttler, who has amassed 824 runs in the ongoing season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) playing for the Rajasthan Royals.

"I'm sure if Mo wanted to and was prepared to put the yards in to make it back into the side then he'd challenge, no doubt. Livingstone, Moeen, Rashid. All these guys have played international cricket before, been successful in the other forms of the game and you'd think they'd be able to transition across, but we'll see," McCullum added.

McCullum’s first assignment as England’s head coach will be the upcoming Test series against New Zealand, starting at Lord’s on 2^nd June 2022.