New Delhi: Ex-England skipper Alastair Cook indulged in a heated on-air argument with his former teammate Moeen Ali during the Ashes Test series last year. The video of their banter had gone viral on social media back then. It all happened when Moeen Ali's 'Joe Root had a more emotional attachment with players' didn't go down too well with Cook, who questioned Ali by asking, "Are you criticizing my captaincy?"
In reply to Root's query, Moeen had then admitted he did 'a little bit'. Cook then reminded Ali about how many times Joe Root had dropped him from the squad, to which Ali again replied by saying, "That’s true, but you also batted me from 1 to 9 in my first year of international cricket."
Four months after the argument between the two legends, Cook and Ali once again discussed their infamous on-air viral banter when they shared a studio on June 11 for coverage of England vs New Zealand 2nd Test, day 2.
"I was coming back from a holiday, walking straight back to the studio at midnight. I met the all-smiling Mo (Moeen), as he always is, very happy. Anyway, half an hour into the shift, he basically told everyone who is watching and listening, 'I wasn't a very good captain and I wouldn't be a very good coach'. That's kind of how it went. So, I actually feel as if I have nothing to defend here," Cook said on BBC's Test Match Special.
Moeen clarified his comments and said, "It was a little bit out of context. I was basically saying that Rooty had a lot more empathy for players than you did! And I never mentioned once that you're not a good captain or if you are or aren't better than Rooty. And then, you took it personally to heart and it went viral," said Moeen.