Moeen Ali is convinced he still has plenty of runs, wickets and match-winning performances ahead of him in Test cricket. The question now, as the all-rounder spends yet more time in isolation, is whether he can demonstrate this in India. England’s tour of Sri Lanka began with Moeen testing positive for Covid-19 and forced to spend 13 days in his hotel room. Though his symptoms were mild and he has had “five or six” net sessions since, the preparations have been paused once more due to the team’s six-day quarantine on arrival in Chennai. Moeen said: “I’m all right now. Once I tested positive, I just wanted to get it over and done with really. It has been tough but I’m a big believer in ‘after hardship comes ease’. Hopefully there is ease after this.” Moeen had no inkling he had contracted the virus until landing in Sri Lanka and experiencing headaches that evening, which were soon followed by a loss of taste and extreme fatigue. Teammates kept in contact but his isolation – extended due to concerns about the UK variant – did drag. Though short on game time, having not bowled with a red ball since an England intra-squad match in June, the 33-year-old still believes he could be ready for Friday’s first Test. “I’ve waited long enough,” he said. How this happens is not straightforward, especially with three days of nets once the team can leave their rooms on Tuesday. Jack Leach and Dom Bess shared 22 wickets in Sri Lanka and while Moeen’s experience outstrips the pair, with 181 wickets from 60 caps he has not played a Test since a subpar performance in the 2019 Ashes opener led to him being dropped, after which he opted for a break. Asked if he has unfinished business in Test cricket, Moeen replied: “Yeah, that is my biggest motivation. I still feel I’ve got wickets and runs in me and match-winning performances within me. I have little targets I want to achieve first. I am not too far away from getting 200 Test wickets. I know people say they don’t look at these things but it would be something I would look at. Then I would set another target after that. “It is a nice position to be in and as much as you don’t fight with guys for places, it is a drive and has motivated me big time.” Interestingly, one of Moeen’s big takeaways from the Test absence has been the effect on his game more broadly. Though some players have thrived as white-ball specialists – notably Alex Hales at present – he believes operating cross-format provides a more solid foundation in the main. “I enjoyed the break and played a few leagues around the world,” Moeen said, “but ultimately it was Test cricket that I missed. When you’re playing Test cricket, you’re on top of your game in terms of your batting and bowling; your technique. I don’t think it’s great when you’re just playing white-ball. “When you are playing red-ball cricket, you are hitting a lot more balls, you’re bowling a lot more too. With Twenty20 cricket, as much as it is hitting sixes, fours etc, the basis of your technique has to be good. “It doesn’t surprise me that Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes are the two best T20 players around and they play Test cricket. Their defence is pretty solid and it gives you more confidence. When I was playing all forms, I felt was better with my white-ball.” As a multi-format player, Moeen is due to fly home for a chunk of the tour and there is a suggestion the third and fourth Test may be his allotted window. This stores up a problem for England, however, should Leach or Bess struggle and need whipping out of the firing line. As such, England could perhaps call on Moeen sooner and Chennai, scene of the first two Tests, does have decent memories for him with the bat – if not the ball. He compiled an impressive 146 in 2016 at the Chepauk Stadium before he and England’s weary bowlers shipped a record 759 for seven declared for a crushing innings defeat. When not confined to his room, Moeen has been working on his trigger movements and mindset in a bid to rediscover some of the magic that brought him five Test centuries. Having recovered from Covid-19, and a prominent British Asian sportsman, he is encouraging people to get vaccinated. “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.”