Nasser Hussain shockingly compares Shoaib Bashir to Nathan Lyon: "Exactly what Lyon does..."

Former England captain Nasser Hussain praised young off-spinner Shoaib Bashir for his impressive bowling performance during the second Test match. However, Nasser Hussain acknowledged that Shoaib Bashir still needs to improve his control against right-handed batters to reach the next level.

England is currently taking on Sri Lanka in the second Test of the three-match series at Lord's in London. The home team posted a total of 427 runs in the first innings, thanks to centuries from Joe Root and Gus Atkinson. Asitha Fernando took five wickets for 102 runs in the ongoing Test match.

In response, the visiting team managed to score just 196 runs on the second day of the match. Kamindu Mendis, who scored a century in the first Test, amassed 74 runs off 120 balls, including 8 fours and 3 sixes. Shoaib Bashir took one wicket for 21 runs in his seven overs in the first innings.

Really Impressed With The Quality Of Shoaib Bashir's Bowling - Nasser Hussain

In his column for Daily Mail, Nasser Hussain wrote that Shoaib Bashir deceived Prabath Jayasuriya with a well-flighted delivery. Hussain hoped that Bashir could improve before the Ashes 2025-26 series in Australia.

“Shoaib Bashir only sent down seven overs on Friday, but I was really impressed with the quality of his bowling. Then, when he got Prabath Jayasuriya on strike, he followed three deliveries at 53-54 miles per hour with one held back and flighted beautifully,” wrote Nasser Hussain.

“Jayasuriya came running down and thought he’d got to the pitch of the ball, only to be half a yard short. It spun and went through the gate. It’s early doors and he needs to work on his control of line to the right handers, but there have been good signs that in Australia next year, Bashir will be hard to get down the pitch to,” he added.

Bashir took the wicket of Prabath Jayasuriya with a sharply turning delivery on Day 2 of the second Test against Sri Lanka. Jayasuriya came down the track to play the shot, but the ball turned in and hit the stumps. The Sri Lanka batter scored 8 runs off 46 balls before being dismissed by Bashir.

Brilliant from Bash 🔥 pic.twitter.com/k3qOjaYVVC

— England Cricket (@englandcricket) August 30, 2024

Shoaib Bashir Is A Quick Learner - Nasser Hussain

Nasser Hussain said that Shoaib Bashir also troubled in-form batter Kamindu Mendis with his bowling. He also mentioned that Bashir, who was picked to replicate Australia’s Nathan Lyon, demonstrated impressive spin and skill.

“People will say that he was bowling at Sri Lanka’s tail, but he wasn’t. He was bowling at Kamindu Mendis, a player who grew up playing against lots of spin and someone with multiple hundreds in Test cricket in Bangladesh,” Hussain further wrote.

“Bashir, 20, has been picked to try and replicate Australia’s world class off-spinner Nathan Lyon ahead of next year’s Ashes and this was the most drop I have seen him get on the ball in his short career. It shows he is a quick learner.”

“He was getting that drop because of the amount of over spin he was producing and it meant that even a set batter like Mendis struggled to get down the pitch to him. Mendis was reaching for deliveries early on, and there were a couple of times that he played the forward defence and the ball hit the splice of the bat – which is exactly what Lyon does to opponents,” the veteran cricketer added.

Bashir made his Test debut during a match against India earlier this year. He picked up 17 wickets in three matches, including two five-wicket hauls in his debut series. Overall, Bashir has taken 30 wickets in 8 Test matches at an average of 32.17 and a strike rate of 56.10.

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