Moeen Ali has insisted Ben Stokes will have a key role to play in England's T20 World Cup campaign "even if he doesn't score runs".
Stokes has returned to England's side ahead of the World Cup, having not played a T20I since March 2021 before the ongoing series against Australia began. And in his two innings so far, Stokes has struggled to find any real form with the bat despite being promoted up the order in a move designed to get the best out of him.
In Perth, Stokes managed a run a ball nine and followed that up with seven off 11 in Canberra, having struck just the one boundary across both innings. Despite his struggles, Moeen is confident Stokes will hit his stride during the tournament.
But even if he does continue to fail with the bat, Moeen says his all-round ability - Stokes opened the bowling in the second T20I, took the important wicket of Mitchell Marsh and produced a brilliant boundary saving effort in the field - means he remains a crucial member of England's side.
"When the big games come, he'll score runs and that's what you want from your gun players," Moeen said. "Ben offers so much even if he's not scoring runs, like he opened the bowling [in the last game] and bowled really well and he was brilliant in the field – that effort was amazing.
"I don't care if Ben doesn't score any runs in the next couple of games because once the World Cup comes, I'm sure he'll be fine. Even if he doesn't score runs, he's a great player to have in your team."
He was also full of praise for Dawid Malan, who scored a match winning 82 in the second T20I after sharing a 92 run partnership with Moeen. "People don't give him the credit because we have such explosive players but the guy's a special player, he's a top player – he's been playing well," Moeen added.
"I feel people are on his back at times for no reason. He always scores runs and he scores them quickly – he's a great player and he's underestimated massively."
England have two more warm-up games before their World Cup campaign gets underway on October 22 against Afghanistan. They will face Australia one more time in Canberra, before moving on to Brisbane to take on Pakistan.
