'Spin kaun karega fir' - Fans react as England pick Josh Tongue over Moeen Ali for 2nd Test of Ashes 2023

After a thrilling finish to the first Test match, the fans are eagerly waiting for the second Ashes 2023 Test match to commence. The spirited Australia came from behind to win the series opener against England. The hosts were on top for the majority of the game but made some tactical blunders, which eventually cost them the match.

As per the trend that the England team has been following before the Test matches, they did exactly that when they announced their squad for the second Ashes Test match. Moeen Ali has finally been left out of the starting lineup, ending much rumour regarding his finger injury and his readiness for the second Test. Josh Tongue of Worcestershire, who debuted in a Test last month against Ireland, took his spot. It is an interesting call as the host are going in with no frontline spinner in their starting XI means that England will be launching a full-on seam bowling onslaught.

Let us have a look at how Twitter reacted to this team selection from the England side:

Tongue will bowl to Head 💀

— Cricket Lover (@ImPrabhavB) June 27, 2023

https://twitter.com/Shantanu5t/status/1673652303470149632

So the pitch will be green mamba .

— E=MC^2 (@Hyperphysics23) June 27, 2023

Now that they have changed the squad.... result stays the same 😂

— Manjeet Thakur (@mjwillmakeit) June 27, 2023

Time for Moeen to take retirement again.

— Finan (@imvivekanand_) June 27, 2023

Spin kon kar gya fir

— jamirkhan (@jamirkh35) June 27, 2023

Tongue vs head

— Next ICC Trophy When (@Next_Icc_Trophy) June 27, 2023

England wanted retired Moeen Ali in test squad just to drop him again 😭😭

— Mohit (@CricketHolik) June 27, 2023

Moeen's absence will also hurt their batting as the 36-year-old is a player who can be very handy with a bat in hand lower down the order. Citing this, the eighteen-year-old wrist spinner Rehan Ahmed was summoned into the England squad as a replacement for Moeen but surprisingly did not find a place in the playing XI.

One of the reasons can be that it is expected that there will be some grass on the Lord’s surface, which will be trimmed before the Test. The latest pictures of the pitch suggest that spinners will probably not have much of a role to play. That has perhaps played a part in England’s selection. After the match, there were speculations about Moeen Ali’s injury, which the 36-year-old sustained during the first Test match. It is to be noted that Ali came out of retirement and replaced Jack Leach in England’s Test side.