Moeen Ali predicts which way India vs England fifth Test will go, says 'India would've won last year but...'

Moeen Ali feels that India were the outright favourites to win the series 3-1 last year but circumstances have changed since then.

A lot has changed for both India and England since the fifth Test of the 2021 series between the two teams was postponed last year. Both teams have new captains and coaches but while India don't seem to have made too much of a chance in how they play their cricket, England seem to have a taken a radically aggressive batting approach under new captain Ben Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum.

England all-rounder Moeen Ali (Action Images via Reuters)

India have played three Test series since current head coach Rahul Dravid took over and one under captain Rohit Sharma. They lost to South Africa away from home while continuing their dominance at home against New Zealand and Sri Lanka. They will now face England in the postponed fifth Test from July 1 before which they played a warm-up game in Leicestershire.

All-rounder Moeen Ali, who recently reversed his Test retirement, said that while England have prepared for the match by beating New Zealand 3-0, India have only had the warm-up match and a few net sessions.

"If this series had finished off last year, India would've won it. If you had asked me 4-5 weeks ago, I would've said India would win. But now I feel (that) England will win. India are a little bit undercooked," Moeen said on Tuesday from Birmingham.

“Last year, India had four games under their belt. This time they've had a practice game and some net sessions. At the moment, England, in my opinion, are the favourites, because they've just played three good Tests, and the way they are playing, they are very confident compared to last year. Their mindset has changed and they're playing positive cricket. India will still be very difficult. They have a fantastic bowling side,” said Moeen.

Moeen also pointed out that the lack of the opening combination of KL Rahul and Rohit, both of whom scored centuries in the series last year, will hurt India. While Rahul is ruled out for the tour with an injury, there are doubts over Rohit's participation after he tested positive for Covid-19.

“I also feel that the combination with KL Rahul and Rohit, the way they were batting last year. . . they were the real problem (for England) because they were giving India great starts most of the time, seeing off the new ball. KL Rahul is a huge miss, and potentially Rohit will miss out. So, I believe that England are the favourites,” he said.

Moeen had retired from Test cricket after the fourth Test of the series in 2021 and said that head coach McCullum is a big reason as to why he decided to reverse his decision.

“I've played with McCullum at RCB, and we get along well. He called me as soon as he got the (England) job, just asking if I wanted to play (Test cricket). And how much fun it's going to be, so, it wasn't so much the fact that Root and Silverwood were the captain and coach. I think that the mindset changed with Stokes and McCullum taking over. The brand of cricket they're looking to play is the sort of cricket I like playing.

“We were not playing well as a team, and were a bit disorganized etc…but these guys (Stokes and McCullum) really got the players (to perform well) so, that's one of the big reasons why I want to play Tests again,” he said.