Former England captain Nasser Hussain has found fundamental fault in England’s batsman’s while facing spinner Yasir Shah in the third Test against Pakistan in Southampton. He opined that the Yasir Shah balls more like India’s former leg-spinner Anil Kumble but his countrymen are treating him like Shane Warne.
Yasir Shah had trapped England batsman Dom Sibley and Ollie Pope in the decider Test match of the series. Olie Pope has also easily thrown his wicket in the second Test on Yasir’s spin bowling. England captain Joe Root was also out as the spinner bowled the beauty to pick the prized wicket. In fast-bowler friendly pitch as well, Yasir has been unplayable on several occasions.
Nasser Hussain opines the reason why England is struggling in front of Yasir’s bowling. He said that the 34-year-old does not bowl deliveries which turn extraordinarily on the opening day of a Test. Instead, he bowls slow and tosses the deliveries up, before suddenly sending down a quicker, straighter one. He opines that the batsman should treat him like Anil Kumble rather than Australian veteran Shane Warne who relayed more on turns and tossing the ball up.
“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,” Hussain wrote in his column for The Daily Mail.
“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 wrote.
England should learn to play Yasir to face India later: Nasser Hussain
Nasser Hussain added that England should learn to play Yasir to prepare themselves for the coming challenges against India and Sri Lanka in winter.
“England has a winter of Test cricket in sub-continental conditions coming up against Sri Lanka and India, if those tours go ahead, they must learn from how they are playing Yasir Shah here,” Nasser Hussain wrote.
Meanwhile, England has an upper hand in the third test against Pakistan as they have just lost four-wicket with the centurion Zak Crawley still batting at Ageas Oval.