Moeen Ali Names Ashish Nehra as Sharpest Cricketing Mind, Ahead of MS Dhoni

Former England all-rounder Moeen Ali has named former India fast bowler and Gujarat Titans head coach Ashish Nehra as the sharpest cricketing mind he has worked with, placing him ahead of several well-known figures, including MS Dhoni. Moeen, who has played under some of the game's leading captains and coaches, said his time with Nehra at Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) during the 2018 and 2019 IPL seasons gave him a clear idea of Nehra's ability to understand and manage the game. Nehra's coaching journey began with RCB as their bowling coach. The team struggled during his stint, and he faced criticism as RCB failed to perform consistently. However, he was handed a bigger role when he became Gujarat Titans' head coach in 2022. In their debut IPL season, GT won the title, making Nehra the first Indian head coach to lift the IPL trophy. Since then, Gujarat Titans have missed the playoffs only once in five seasons, despite often starting tournaments without being considered among the favourites.

Speaking on the Beard Before Wicket podcast, Moeen explained what, in his view, makes someone a great cricket thinker. “For me, a cricketing brain is somebody who knows almost every situation of the game. Someone who’s got an answer—or a theory—for every situation. Like, they just talk about all aspects. ‘Why he’s not that good, why he is good, what should happen in this situation, what could happen’,” he said, as quoted by News18. Moeen added that whether those ideas work every time is not the main point. “But he’s got something," he added. “And behind that something, there’s either data or evidence. Like, ‘It’s happened before, and this happened, and this is why this can happen.’ 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."