Moeen Ali talks about his battle against COVID-19

Moeen Ali has been one of England’s most potent weapons in subcontinent conditions. The all-rounder, who is a part of the Test squad for the series against India beginning February 5th in Chennai, had to miss the two Tests last month against Sri Lanka. Moeen was part of the team travelling to Sri Lanka, but tested COVID-19 positive on his arrival in the country.

Now that he has recovered and is set to be back in action, Moeen has revealed his experience as he fought with the deadly pandemic.

"I didn't sleep much on the plane and felt a bit jet-lagged and then in the evening I started to get splitting headaches," he was quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo.

"The test was positive. I was not surprised; I had a feeling because once I landed, I didn't feel great.

"I had loss of taste for a day or so, splitting headaches for three days, my body was very sore and the fatigue was.... I've never experienced that sort of tiredness before in my life. It was three days feeling pretty rough and the rest was fine," added Ali who had been a part of RCB for the last three seasons in the IPL, and was released earlier this season ahead of the Auctions for the season on February 18th.

The 33-year-old also talked about the struggles of being confined inside his room, especially during the last four days.

"When I initially got it, I thought, 'the next five days will be crucial here', I didn't want the cough and fever and thankfully I didn't have that. There's part of you that's worried and anticipating it would be bad. The 14 days felt like they were dragging. The last four days, in particular, were very tough because I felt fine but I was just stuck in a room.”

"I wouldn't wish it on anyone to be honest with you, just stuck there, especially when you land on a tour and then you're positive, and then you get out and towards the end, you're watching the wicket spinning and you want to be out there," he further said.

"I am all right now. Once I was positive I wanted to get it over and done with really. It's just the way it is now, I think I'll be the first of a few guys on future tours maybe. It's one of those things. It has been tough but I'm a big believer in 'after hardship comes ease'. Hopefully, there is some ease after this," he further added.

With governments across the world, trying their best to get the population vaccinated, Moeen urged everyone to not pay heed to rumours and conspiracy theories.

"There's a lot of conspiracy theories out there but it's just medicine evolving. In our community, people are sometimes a bit cautious. But for things to get back to normal, it's important that we do," he signed off.