England should treat Yasir Shah like Anil Kumble, not Shane Warne: Nasser Hussain

Former England captain Nasser Hussain has opined that England batsmen are failing against Yasir Shah because they are treating him as Shane Warne. Nasser Hussain added that the Three Lions will have to treat Shah like Anil Kumble to find success against the Pakistani tweaker.

Nasser Hussain did not want to demean that legendary Indian leg-spinner and was instead suggesting that like Anil Kumble, Yasir Shah is also not a spinner who would turn the bowl massively on Day 1 of a Test match. Anil Kumble was someone who was known for his consistency with line and length while bowling, whereas Shane Warne would start turning the ball from the first day of a Test match itself.

Nasser Hussain explained that England batsmen including captain Joe Root and Ollie Pope are getting trapped on the back foot because they are predicting massive turns from Yasir Shah. The 52-year-old added that in order to negate the spinning conditions in Sri Lanka and India in the upcoming series’, England will have to watch out on how they play Yasir Shah.

“England have a winter of Test cricket in sub-continental conditions coming up against Sri Lanka and India, if those tours go ahead, so they must learn from how they are playing Yasir Shah here,” Hussain wrote in his column for The Daily Mail.

“For some reason, whether it is Joe Root or Ollie Pope, England have been going back to the leg-spinner and getting stuck on the crease. They are playing him as if he were Shane Warne but, in the first innings of a Test, they should play him more like Anil Kumble,” Nasser Hussain added.

“Yasir will not bowl massive, turning deliveries on the first day. Instead, he has been setting batsmen up by going slow, slow and then producing a quicker, straighter delivery,” he explained.

Notably. Yasir Shah with 11 scalps is the leading wicket-taker in the ongoing 3-match Test series.