IND vs ENG: After Moeen, Birmingham's 'uncle Munir' is shaping careers of his grandkids

TimesofIndia.com in Birmingham: On a very overcast Sunday morning at the Sheldon Marlborough Cricket Club, Munir Ali was seated near the boundary ropes with his twin brother Shabbir.

A local league game featuring U-13 kids was underway and the two gentlemen, in their 70s now, had eyes glued to the action.

A kid behind the stumps - his grandson Abu Baker - drew most of Munir's attention.The 11-year-old wicketkeeper batter is the son of former England all-rounder Moeen Ali and had his cousins Musa and Hamza - sons of Kadir Ali - for teammates. The youngsters were going through the rigours their father and uncles underwent during their formative years and while the times have changed, the man calling the shots has remained the same.

Munir continues to be the force which keeps driving the family's cricket and after shaping the careers of his sons and nephew, the focus has now shifted towards the next generation, which includes his daughter's kids.

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While his son's and nephew's kids are still young, his daughter's son Isaac Mohammed has already taken a big step in his cricketing career as he has made it to the England U19 squad which is currently playing India U19.

The left-handed opener Isaac has been "modelled" like his uncle Moeen, has a three-year contract with Worcestershire and touted to be the next big thing in English cricket.

"He's going to be a great cricketer, he'll play all formats, he'll play around the world. He'll be as good as Moeen. He's got a good game, he's only 17-year-old and playing at a very high level. I was listening to commentary during the U-19 game vs India and heard people saying that he reminds them of an England cricketer (laughs).

We all know who that is because I have modelled him like Moeen because I saw similarity in the game," Munir tells TimesofIndia.com in a candid boundary-side chat.He can't have biases and treats everyone in the family equally, but has a different approach for each one of his grandkids. Kadir's son Musa is an all-rounder and Hamza is being prepared for the role of power-hitting. Kadir has two more kids - five-year old twin boys - and they have started swinging the bat in the house.

His nephew Kabir Ali, former England cricketer, has two sons Yousuf and Younis, and it's not a surprise that they play cricket.

None of them, however, is a wicketkeeper and that is why Munir asked Moeen's son Abu Baker to take up the big gloves. He started out as a top-order batter who could bowl medium pace but the "good physique" forced a turn in a different direction."He really enjoys wicket-keeping. He was a medium-paced bowler but we thought he was never going to be a bowler because of his built, but he's got very good physique for a wicket-keeper.

Slim lad, very agile, dives here, dives there, and he's good actually. He's very good for his age, 11-year-old. We haven't taken him for a trial in the County yet, but we are going to, we're going to talk to them and maybe, you know, so that he can keep.

We wanted to hold him back for another year or so. Just to get him ready for that," says Munir as his grandson takes his glove off in a flash to relay a throw to the non-striker's end.

In between the conversation and Munir's observations, there were multiple interruptions when 'Uncle Munir' was greeted by parents of the young cricketers. There were reminders to sip something as it got cold. Every greeting, reminder and conversation got the usual warm response from Munir. It's an understatement to say that he is famous in Birmingham and his popularity has only increased after Moeen's cricketing success.

It was, however, not as rosy as it is right now. Back in the day, the Ali household had its fair share of struggles and it wasn't easy for both Munir and Shabbir to put food on the table, and ensure the cricket doesn't get affected. There was clear division of roles between the two brothers but it was easier said than done. The Stoney Lane in Sparkhill was the neighbourhood in which Moeen and his brothers picked up the bat and ball, and became obsessed with it.

The parks, the streets, the school, the backyard of the house and even indoors, cricket never stopped for the Alis who, even after leaving the area, continue to be very popular. A quick dash from the Stoney Park, where a mural of Moeen Ali is painted on the wall, is the Milan Sweets Shop which occupies the prime corner position. Established in 1975, the vegetarian joint was frequented by Moeen for its samosas. A middle-aged boy now sits behind the counter and fondly remembers the Alis."Oh yes they used to live very close here. Who doesn't know Moeen or uncle Munir. They moved out of the area long back but there is a mural of Moeen now in the park which keeps reminding us that he is very much part of the neighbourhood," says the second generation owner of the sweet shop.

A quick reference of Milan Sweets, and Munir's eyes lit up on listening about the area his kids and nephews grew up in."Moeen was always in and out of that shop, buying samosas and everything else.

He went to Nelson Mandela School, which was just around the corner. And then the park, the little thing, the area that they had, the playground, they used to play every evening. All my sons used to go there after school and they used to have a competition in the area."All the boys from the area used to come. And then because my boys were playing County cricket, Kabir was playing, Kadir was playing, Moeen was playing, Omar, they were all playing County cricket.

Lots of other youngsters were inspired by them. So maybe we were famous there because of the boys playing cricket. Everyone loved Moeen in school - his teachers and everyone. Because he used to play and was very famous," says Munir.

The boys took their baby steps in the neighbourhood and adopted a more professional approach at the Moseley Ashfield Cricket Club. Just a twenty minute walk from Milan Sweets, the piece of field is nestled between houses and very easy to be missed by even well-guided navigation.

The club still has a half-broken photo frame of Munir with his stats and continues to get visits from the Alis.There's strong belief in Birmingham that "uncle Munir" can make anyone a cricketer. Everyone's believes he has an eye for talent and required skills to shape a cricketer.

After putting the hair strands of his moustache back in place, Munir gives a very animated response. "Somebody said once that Uncle Munir can turn a donkey into a horse (laughs).

Somebody said to me, 'if you want your son or daughter to play cricket at a high level, go to Munir uncle, he knows all the tricks.' Alhamdulillah, you know, I believe that I can, I can do that. I've turned a few players who didn't know which side of the handle to hold, you know, the bat, yeah, and they played County cricket."I look at the technique, right? My aim has always been, even with my own, you learn the technique first. You've got to be, your set-up has to be very strong, your base has to be very strong and you play within that box.

Develop the technique first and then you develop the other things," explains Munir.

As the conversation grows, he serves enough reminders of why Moeen was one-of-a-kind in England cricket. He remembers his knocks and spells them out like they happened yesterday and even after his retirement, he is not happy with the fact that his son batted so low down the order. Munir also patiently explains how Moeen became so religious, grew his beard and the impact it had over the entire family.

He was initially worried because of the whole terror talk but made peace with it and saw the impact it had on his son's mental peace."That was a little bit difficult for me in a way, because in those days there were a lot of rumours about terrorism, there are things happening here, terrorism and all that. And my mind was focused on his sport, cricket development, everything. Now he's got into the England U-19 side and people are starting to talk about Moeen Ali, who he was and this and that.

"And there I was seeing the change in his personality, growing a beard and reading namaz all the time, being busy. One side was cricket, the other side was religion and his beliefs. And what changed is he was becoming an honest person, a true person, you know, like kids do, say this and say this, he didn't, he just focused on one thing, proper, tell the truth, be honest, be nice and humble.

"I was feeling something different, but he wasn't.

Okay, he was in a good space. He was getting better and better and better. He was playing now, his game was sort of lifting because his thought process was getting better," recalls Munir.Just as he rolled back the years in the nearly one-hour conversation, the present was talking giant strides towards the future right in front of him. The three grandkids were waiting for their turn to bat during the innings break and "uncle Munir" was busy greeting everyone he met. He said Moeen was one-of-a-kind but if you do a quick survey in Birmingham, the vast majority will pick "uncle Munir" as the undisputed one-of-a-kind.