‘Not sure how to take this anymore’: Moeen Ali, Cook clash on live TV after spinner takes a dig at former ENG captain

Joe Root's ability as a leader took a strong hit as England suffered three consecutive losses in the ongoing Ashes. Such was the impact that several former cricketers echoed the 31-year-old to be dropped as the Test captain and the role be handed to someone more capable. 

Amidst the Test captaincy row, Moeen Ali made some strong analysis on Root's captaincy and compared it with England great Alastair Cook. The spinner, who announced his retirement from the longer format of the game last year, stated Root to be more emotionally close with the players. 

The comments by Ali was made during the coverage of the 4th Ashes Test on BT Sport with Cook also being part of the debate. The exchange between the two got awkward as Ali took a dig at Cook's captaincy, stating that under the former England captain he came to bat at different positions, starting from opener till number nine. 

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“Cooky would never give me throw downs. Rooty has a bit more of, I would say, an emotional attachment with the players. He probably spends a bit more time with the players," said Ali referring to the footage of Root giving throw downs to England players on Day 1 of the Sydney Test, which was affected by rain.  

Cook initially took Ali's comments in jest and responded: “Are you just criticising my captaincy?” 

However, he was surprised by Ali's reply as the spinner said: “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,” added Ali.  

Cook was then quick to point out that he had never dropped him from the side, but Root had done it on multiple occasion.  

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“I was going to say, I never dropped Mo. So you might criticise me, but I never dropped you. How many times did Rooty drop you?,” questioned Cook in response. 

Ali didn't stop there and mentioned: “That’s true, but he (Cook) also batted me from one to nine in my first year of international cricket.” 

If we go back a few years down the memory lane, Ali batted with the tailenders in the 2015 Ashes series, but was elevated as opener in England’s tour of Pakistan, which took place a few months later. 

Cook, however, tried to defend his tactic and said: “I was giving him a chance. I couldn’t work out whether he was a tailender or an opening batsman, so I tried to find the perfect role for him.”

Ali then went on to add: "To go back to my point, Rooty was a little bit more involved with the players, in my opinion. Not that Cooky didn’t care, but I think Rooty is a bit more arm-over-the-shoulder kind of guy.”

Cook then tried to end the discussion by saying: “I’m not sure how to take this anymore. I’ve just come back from a nice holiday and I’ve walked straight into Moeen Ali off his long run."