Moeen Ali feels Brendon McCullum helps Jos Buttler to bring best of him

London [UK], September 11 (ANI): Former England cricketer Moeen Ali said that head coach Brendon McCullum would help white-ball skipper Jos Buttler bring out the best in him.

Moeen, who last played for England in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024, announced his retirement from the the international game on Sunday. Moeen believed that the time was right for him after understanding that he was no longer in consideration for the side’s future assignments.

In the upcoming T20I series against Australia, Phil Salt will lead England as Jos Buttler has suffered a calf injury. Buttler’s injury also puts him in doubt for the five-game ODI series that follows.

Speaking to Sky Sports, Moeen said that McCullum can bring out the sort of energy that will help Buttler do more than anything.

“I think Brendon, it helps the fact he has been there, done it, and the way he played. I think it can be quite difficult if a coach says ‘go do this’, but they never did. Brendon brings that sort of energy and I think it will be great for Jos more than anything,” Moeen was quoted by Sky Sports as saying.

The former England batter added that Buttler has a lot of pressure with batting, wicketkeeping, captaining.

“Jos has so much on his plate with batting, wicketkeeping, captaining. I think Brendon will just take the pressure off and he can just play and captain on the field. Brendon will be more in control I think,” he added.

The first T20I match will be played in Southampton on September 11. The second match will be played on September 13 in Cardiff. The last match of the T20I series will take place on September 15 in Manchester.

England T20I squad: Phil Salt (C), Jofra Archer, Jacob Bethell, Brydon Carse, Jordan Cox, Sam Curran, Josh Hull, Will Jacks, Liam Livingstone, Saqib Mahmood, Dan Mousley, Jamie Overton, Adil Rashid, Reece Topley, John Turner.