Kolkata: English all-rounder Moeen Ali, has made history and now joins an elite club of legends Sir Ian Botham and Jacques Kallis after he became the third player to score 1000 runs and take 30 wickets in a calendar year as per reports from cricket.com.au.
Legendary English all-rounder Ian Botham was the first to achieve this feat in 1982 when he scored 1095 runs and had 47 wickets to his name. Jacques Kallis joined him in 2001 when he scored 1120 runs and scored 35 wickets.
Ian Botham played a total of 13 test matches in 1982 and Kallis played one more than him in 2001. Moeen Ali, however featured in all of the 17 test matches England have played this year and achieved this feat.
All the sides except Australia, South Africa, Pakistan and Sri Lanka have completed their test schedule this year and the English all-rounder has scored a total of 1078 runs. He also becomes the fifth person after Joe Root(1477 runs), Johnny Bairstow(1470 runs), Alastair Cook(1270 runs) and Virat Kohli (1215 runs) to score1000 runs in a calendar year.
Other cricketers nearing the 1000 run run mark are Azhar Ali(950 runs) and Steve Smith(914 runs). They too could cross the 1000 run mark if they make good use of the Boxing Day test match in Australia.
Despite receiving a 4-0 drubbing at the hands of India recently, Moeen Ali’s performance has been one of the few positives for England. He hasn’t been consistent as he done well, only in patches. But the left-hander scored two crucial centuries in the five match series and helped his team thus taking his tally of centuries in 2016 to four.
He also scalped crucial wickets at times when a breakthrough was desperately desired by his team. With a good good amount of cricket to be played by England in 2017, it would be intriguing to see whether he could carry his form or not.