ENG vs IND 2025: Shubman Gill's Virat Kohli-like aggression brought the best out of England at Lord's - Moeen Ali

Former England all-rounder Moeen Ali feels Shubman Gill's aggressive on-field attitude during the Lord's Test was similar to Virat Kohli's fiery intensity - and may have inadvertently brought about a more fearsome version of the England team.

Apart from Indian captain Gill, Mohammed Siraj was also seen giving the England batters a mouthful at the Home of Cricket. However, amplifying the intensity seemed to have backfired for the tourists as they lost the match by 22 runs, as England took a 2-1 lead with two games left to play in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy.

"My take is, it's fine. I think he's just trying to be competitive in front of a fight and very similar to Virat, I think it's fine. But then, obviously, the other team, what you've done is, I think you've actually brought out the best of England and the fight and that beast England can be," Moeen said on the sidelines of the Global Super League (GSL) 2025, where he is representing Guyana Amazon Warriors.

"And I think it's a different side of England. They've shown all the players that it's great for the series to win. I don't know why it's getting criticised," he added.

I think played really well on that wicket: Moeen Ali

Moeen was particularly impressed by England's batting effort in the third innings at Lord's. He believes that the conditions were slightly easier for batting in the third innings than in the fourth. England were bowled out for 192 to set India a lead of 193. However, the Asian giants could only manage 170 runs before being rolled over. Moeen did praise KL Rahul, who scored a century in the first innings and 39 in the second.

"I think, at Lord's it can happen. Because there's always something for the ball, even though the period where it looked easy for batting, there's always a few periods where... it makes it a little bit difficult. I think KL (Rahul) played really well on that wicket. But I think it was obviously a very close game," Moeen said.

"I think we were lucky, it was even to the closer level. England just scored a few more runs in the third innings, which was probably easier than it was in the fourth innings," he added.

Moeen was also pleased with how England batted on the first morning of the Lord's Test when the ball was moving around considerably.

"But I think the first morning at Lord's, when it was doing a bit more, I thought England got through that period nicely. And I think to be 387 in the first innings there and in that situation, I think was a lot right," Moeen stated.