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Sports

Not MS Dhoni, Moeen Ali picks former pacer as Indian cricket’s smartest brain

hellohimachalse@gmail.com 03 Aug 2026 4 days ago

New Delhi: Former England all-rounder Moeen Ali picked former India pacer and Gujarat Titans (GT)’s current head coach Ashish Nehra as the best cricketing brain he has come across. Moeen picked Nehra over some of the greats of the game, including MS Dhoni, who is a master tactician and is known for his sharp cricketing brain.

Moeen played under Dhoni for the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the Indian Premier League (IPL). He spent three seasons with CSK under Dhoni and won two titles in 2021 and 2023. Moeen also played under several captains throughout his career for England and in franchise cricket across the globe, while also working with multiple talented coaches.

However, Moeen feels Nehra’s reading of every situation of the game and his man management skills made him stand out. The former England all-rounder was part of the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) squad in 2018 and 2019 when Nehra was the bowling coach of the franchise.

“For me, a cricketing brain is somebody who knows almost every situation of the game,” Moeen said on the Beard Before Wicket podcast.

“Someone who’s got an answer, or a theory, for every situation. They talk about all aspects. Why somebody is not that good, why somebody is good, what should happen in this situation, what could happen,” he added.

The former England all-rounder then went on to name Nehra as the sharpest cricket brain he has come across in his career. He pointed out how the former India pacer’s opinions are not purely based on instincts but also on data and evidence. He praised Nehra’s man-management and said he knows how to run the dressing room.

“But he’s got something. And behind that something, there’s either data or evidence. It’s happened before, and this happened, and this is why this can happen,” said Moeen.

“So the name I am going to give is Ashish Nehra. He is the coach of Gujarat. I had him at RCB for a couple of years. When it comes to cricket brain, this guy knows what he’s talking about. Knows how to get a team environment going, knows how to deal with people, players and coaches. Amazing, amazing cricket brain,” he added.

Ashish Nehra’s coaching career

Nehra started his coaching journey with the Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the IPL. He served as the bowling coach of the franchise for two years, but didn’t get much recognition in the role. Nehra was appointed as the head coach of the Gujarat Titans ahead of the first season in IPL 2022, and he helped the team lift their maiden title in their debut campaign.

Gujarat Titans reached their second successive final in IPL 2023 with Nehra at the helm. Nehra soon became one of the household names in IPL coaching. Under him, Gujarat Titans remain one of the mocst consistent teams in the league despite losing their former captain Hardik Pandya to Mumbai Indians in 2024.

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