London: Moeen Ali, the 28-year-old England all-rounder, who outperformed his teammates by ball and bat against Australia during the second day of the fierce rivals' opening Test Match Friday, said fasting in Ramadan boost his performance.
"Abstaining from food and drink during daylight hours was far from detrimental to his game", Moeen Ali, a devout Muslim who is observing the Muslim holy month of fasting despite competing in this summer's series - said prior to the match, according to the Express.
"If you're not doing much you might feel a bit lethargic, but if I'm at the ground, if I'm playing, then it just isn't difficult.
"It's brilliant for teaching self-control, having discipline, detoxification of your body, after a couple of days you really feel much better", the Birmingham-born player, who sports who sports a long beard, said.
Moeen Ali made a quickfire 77 runs with the bat and grabbed two crucial wickets with his spin bowling.
Ali also spoke of wanting to challenge misconceptions British people held about Muslims. He said he was keen to show the positive contribution British Muslims make to the country, but had received some negative attention in the past.
"I know people aren't sure about men who look like I do. People don't see the beard as a bit of hair," he said.
"I've been shouted at, called some horrible names, and when I first came to Worcester I noticed people crossing the road to avoid me.
The 'beard that's feared', as he is known, said his faith meant "everything" to him.
But Ali also admitted that there were "a lot of bad Muslims giving us a bad name".
He said he wanted to set the record straight, but added that non-Muslims needed to change their attitudes.
"There are a lot of ignorant people, too," he said.
"I hope what people see in me is that I'm a normal guy, and that people who look as I do can do normal things. And people don't see us as normal at times.
"We still chuckle as people do, we still drink a cup of tea, but we feel alienated.
"I hope I can change that, so even if I can make one person think, 'You know, Muslims are all right, they're good people', then I've done a decent job."
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