From exile to ecstasy: Alex Hales 2.0 is ready for the big time

“I felt like I was making my debut again.”

It was the statement of England’s third-highest run-getter in T20Is less than a couple of months ago when he earned an unlikely call-up to the T20I side after three and a half years. For the rest of the world, it was three and a half years. But for Alex Daniel Hales, it was a lifetime.

He was discarded from the scheme of things three and a half years ago after failing a recreational drug test and reports suggested that Hales might never play for England again. The then captain Eoin Morgan said that Hales showed “complete disregard” for team values. 

He then returned to domestic cricket, played franchise T20 cricket all over the world – the PSL, BPL, Big Bash League and what not – and quietly piled up runs and pummeled the bowlers. But everyone knew the England door was shut for him, at least as long as Morgan was the captain.

And even after Morgan’s retirement, a comeback for Hales wasn’t on the cards with the batting line-up filled with established stars. But as luck would have it, Jonny Bairstow’s freak injury made England look for a similar top-order option. It was hard to look beyond Hales’ glorious form with the bat and his experience in Australia while playing the Big Bash League.

But it was not as easy as it sounds. His strained relationship with senior player Ben Stokes could be a problem. Buttler, England’s new captain following Morgan’s retirement, spoke to all the senior players to make sure no one would have any issues with Hales returning to the team. Hales and Stokes even reportedly had a chat but no one knows what that was about. It was important to put all the tensions aside and help the team together. 

So, Hales had a point to prove. He anchored the innings in a middling chase against Pakistan in his comeback game with a half-century. It was not the most fluent innings. He was rusty, especially early on. As he said, “I felt like I was making my debut again.”

Hales had almost a quiet rest of the series against Pakistan although there were a couple of really good starts. But the tall, lanky batter looked at home when he was up against Australia in Perth just on the eve of the World Cup. A brilliant 84 off 51 and an opening partnership of 132 with Buttler showed why he was included in the World Cup squad. Experience matters.

England are surely one of the most explosive sides in T20 cricket right now but they didn’t get to show that side of their game much in the Super 12s. They worked hard to chase a sub-120 target against Afghanistan and had to wait till the final over to get to 142. The New Zealand game was probably the only match where it was a full-blown effort. Hales was England’s best batter in the Super 12s in terms of runs and strike-rate. But it was interesting to see if he could bat with the same authority against the likes of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh and Mohammed Shami. 

And Hales responded in the most brutal manner possible. Four of his first five boundaries were sixes. The straight boundaries are much longer than the ones square on either side but those didn’t stop Hales. Hales hit one six each off Shami and Bhuvneshwar over that big straight boundary and one over wide long-on off Axar Patel. 

He used the slog-sweep to great effect against the spinners – Axar Patel and R Ashwin. Three of his seven sixes came off slog-sweeps and those were not small sixes. Those would clear the boundary at most grounds in the world. 57 off 86 runs came square of the wicket – the shorter sides. Jos Buttler rightly pointed out: “Hales used the dimensions of the ground pretty well.”

With Hales in exile, England won the 2019 World Cup and made the semis of the 2021 T20 World Cup. Hales now has a great chance to win England a T20 World Cup for the first time in 12 years. 

“I never thought I would play in a World Cup again,” Hales told the broadcaster after the match. He could have been England’s most accomplished T20I batter if he didn’t fall out of favour. He is 33 now and missed a lot of cricket when he was at the peak of his powers. But he’ll now look to make up for lost time and contribute as much as he can in the next opportunities.

The Alex Hales version 2.0 will turn out to be more impactful if he manages to lead England to silverware. If he fails, it won’t matter much. Just a few months ago itself, he didn’t think he would wear the England shirt again. But as Forrest Gump’s mother would tell him, “Life is a box of chocolates, Forrest. You never know what you’re going to get.” 

Life sometimes may not give you a second chance. But if it is does, grab the chance with both hands like Alex Hales.