England and Pakistan are currently locking horns in the third Test match at the Rose Bowl in Southampton. The host nation won the opening Test by three wickets while the second one resulted in a draw with majority of the game, being washed off. In the meantime, former England captain Nasser Hussain has some advice for the English batsmen.

He is of the opinion that the hosts’ batters should treat Pakistan’s Yasir Shah as former Indian legendary leg-spinner Anil Kumble rather than Australian great Shane Warne. Hussain, who’s also a broadcaster cum commentator, feels that the Pakistan leggie is more focused on varying his pace rather than spinning the ball off the surface.

The 34-year-old hasn’t been able to produce extraordinary deliveries right from the opening day of the match, but has been bowling slow, tossing the deliveries before turning them quick and straight down the line.

Hussain mentioned 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.”

England must learn how to play Shah: Nasser Hussain

While Kumble’s bowling style was mostly about skidding the ball along the surface at a decent pace, Warne focused on imparting more revs and generating prodigious turn. 

“England have 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.”

In the 3rd Test that commenced on Friday, August 21, England dealt Shah quite well and ended the day with 332 runs on board for the loss of 4 wickets. Zak Crawley (171*) and Buttler (87*) had put together 205 runs for stunning 5th-wicket partnership. After the second day’s play, even as Crawley notched 267 runs, Buttler scored a patient 152. Shah got a couple of wickets on day one, but couldn’t make inroads on the second day courtesy Crawley and Buttler’s partnership of 359 runs.