World Cup 2019: Moeen Ali's father on how he made his son a champ

Moeen Ali's father Munir at a park near Edgbaston in Birmingham. Pic/Harit N Joshi

England all-rounder Moeen Ali, 32, has batted with several partners, but none more significant and enduring as his partnership with his father Munir. When Moeen was taking his first strides in cricket, Munir was accused of being too pushy by Warwickshire County Cricket Club. "As a father, I had no patience," he admits while recalling the initial years. "I worked very hard and had a very difficult time in making him a top-level cricketer. Whatever people said didn't matter to me."

Munir's single-minded dedication contributed in making his three sons - Kadeer, Moeen and Omar - into top-class cricketers. Munir's twin brother Shabir had similar goals with his two sons Kabeer and Aatif. Pace bowler Kabeer went on to play one Test and 14 ODIs for England between 2003 to 2006. Kadeer played first-class cricket before turning to coaching while Omar plays in the minor county league. Moeen, according to his father, had more natural flair as compared to his other two sons.

Munir worked in the psychiatric department of a hospital, but quit his job after a few deaths in just one night. Yet, he never let financial problems come in the way of his children's cricketing dreams. "I had missed a few mortgages and my wife [Maqsood Begum] had to sell her gold bangles and other jewellery to save our house. I was very hurt when it happened. For any woman, jewellery is her pride. She sacrificed everything along with me to ensure our three sons play cricket without any interruptions. A year later, we got her jewellery back once Moeen started to earn some money through cricket," says Munir.

England's Moeen Ali bowls during the World Cup match against South Africa at The Oval recently. Pics/Getty Images. (Right) Moeen Ali en route his unbeaten 31 against Afghanistan at Old Trafford in Manchester on June 18

Rock solid support
"She stood like a rock beside me. She never demanded anything and never questioned my belief and the hard work I was putting in for my sons. When we were putting all our savings into their cricket, no one among my close family members came forward to support us financially. They were waiting for us to fail than succeed, which was disheartening," says Munir, while paying tribute to his wife's contribution in the making of Moeen.

"Even our daughter [Asba] started earning from a young age. She took up a make-up artist job while studying and started contributing to the household income. It was a team effort," he says with pride. To keep their cricketing dreams alive, Munir and his brother would go door-to-door selling chicken. "We needed money to keep going, so my brother and I would buy chickens from a farm, cut them and sell them door-to-door. We made good profit out of that. That money would go towards our petrol bills because with every boy playing cricket, we needed to do a lot of travelling," says Munir.

Munir clearly remembers what he calls his life's toughest weeks ever - spending seven days on the road, taking his and his brother's sons for their matches. "Sunday, I went to Somerset. Monday, I was in South London. On Tuesday, we played against Wales in Birmingham, on Wednesday in Nottingham and again in Birmingham on Thursday. On Friday...another game and Saturday was a Birmingham's league match which I used to play sometimes. And then, back to Somerset on Sunday. It was the toughest weeks for me," he recalls. He did this to ensure none of the five boys would feel they were not given proper attention.

Pro ambition
The hard work and effort started paying off. Kabeer got a Warwickshire contract and very soon Moeen, at 15, became the youngest player to sign a professional contract with Warwickshire. "I always wanted Moeen to be a professional cricketer. Warwickshire were lucky to sign him for just £5000. They got him for peanuts. It didn't even cover his travelling expenses. Money was secondary. I knew if he stays in a group of professional cricketers, he will develop faster," he says.

Financial difficulties did not deter Munir from providing Moeen the best coaching. While the average fee for specialised coaching was around £10 to £15 per session, Munir paid £50 to late coach Neal Abberley, a Warwickshire legend, to train Moeen. "I had made up my mind to invest £500 [contract fee] in developing Moeen's technical game. He used to push his hand out while playing his shots. I wanted specialised one-on-one coaching sessions to develop his technique, so I did it," he says. Munir then asked Moeen to completely devote himself to cricket. This meant no holidays, outings and academics. "Only cricket was spoken in our house. Nothing else," says Munir.

All cash for cricket
Every penny that they earned was an investment into cricket. They bought a bowling machine in the 1990s for around £2,000 to £3,000 so that their backyard could become another avenue for practice. In winters, they would place the bowling machine in the passage of their house at Acocks Green in Birmingham. As Munir narrated his story of struggle, one couldn't help relate it to the lead role played by Amir Khan in the movie, Dangal.

"I loved that movie. He [Amir] was very much like me," he says with a chuckle. Munir did not know whether his efforts would bear fruits or not, but he knew his sincerity and hard work would not be wasted. "You will fail if you want to fail. If you are determined and work hard, then you will find a way to succeed," he says. A new line of cricketers are emerging in the Ali clan - Moeen's son Abubakar, five, and Kabeer's sons Musa and Humsa. "It is a new beginning for me. If I have to do this all over again, I will do it," he says. And yes, Munir will be as restless as before.

How seamer Moeen Ali turned into a spinner

Warwickshire bowling coach Stephen Perryman was instrumental in transforming Moeen Ali into an off-spinner from being a seam bowler. "He had a backache once and I asked the coach whether he has seen Moeen bowl off-spin. He was surprised that he bowled spin. In the winter, Moeen used to bowl off-spin in the house due to space constraints. So, the coach gave him six balls to bowl in the nets if his back permitted him to do so. After four balls, he told Moeen that no more seam bowling from now on," says Munir, who also credited Roger Newman (Warwickshire academy director) for retaining Moeen's natural flair: "Newman had a very good eye for talent."

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