Moeen rewarded for fine form with Test recall

Moeen Ali returns to the England Test side for the fourth Specsavers Test against India following his excellent recent form that has seen him fire straight up the PCA Most Valuable Player Rankings.

Moeen’s return has been largely due to his performance against Yorkshire where he scored a breath-taking double-century and eight wickets in the match to lead his Worcestershire side to victory.

An extremely impressive performance, the all-rounder recorded the highest individual MVP score of the season and will be looking for more of the same as he sets up to face the number one Test side in the world.

A strong contender for the PCA Player of the Month, Moeen also impressed in the One Day International MVP Rankings finishing third, an achievement that keeps him fifth in the Overall MVP Rankings. The Worcestershire star will replace Ollie Pope in the side who made his Test debut in the second Test.

Sam Curran will also make his return to the side after being unfortunate to miss out on the third Test which subsequently ended in defeat. Curran had earlier led the summer Test MVP Rankings following his MVP Man of the Match for the Lord’s Test and with 67 MVP points to his name, he could still chase down the leading pack.

Curran replaces another all-rounder Chris Woakes, who has missed out due to feeling tightness in his right quad. Woakes will be a huge loss for England as he currently sits second in the Test MVP Rankings with 86 MVP points and has the highest average per match with a remarkable 29 Points.

Woakes will miss out on the opportunity to get closer to top spot Jimmy Anderson, who looks set to make it back to back Summer Test MVP’s.

The Lancastrian has had an excellent series so far taking 17 wickets in the three Tests at an average of 14.9 and is now only six wickets behind Glenn McGrath as the all-time leading wicket taker in Test cricket for a seam bowler.

The 36-year-old is currently 27 points ahead of the nearest challengers with 110 points to his name and is showing no signs of slowing down.

Despite being top of the red-ball standings, Anderson is some way behind top spot in the Overall MVP Rankings with Jos Buttler on 245 MVP points, 65 ahead of second-place Adil Rashid.

Buttler recorded his maiden Test century last time out and has already been crowned the PCA MVP for both of England’s white-ball formats for the summer.

The 27-year-old will be hoping to climb from fourth spot in an attempt for an England clean sweep.

The hard-hitting batsman will also be taking ownership of the gloves from the restricted Jonny Bairstow for the fourth Test, giving him the potential to earn more MVP points and put pressure on the top spots.

To view the England MVP Rankings, click here.