England treated Rizwan like Kohli, Smith: Nasser Hussain

Former England captain Nasser Hussain has slammed the tactics of Joe Root’s side, after they missed the opportunity to dismiss Pakistan for a score of less than 200 in the first innings of the second Test in Southampton.

Pakistan wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammad Rizwan hit a defiant fifty on a difficult batting pitch to guide his team past the 200-mark in their first innings.

“Why did England have five men on the boundary and why did they start trying to bowl short and employ cunning plans when all they needed to do was keep aiming for the top of off-stump?” Hussain wrote in his column for The Daily Mail.

Hussain also believes that England should not have changed their bowling strategy as they had Pakistan on the ropes.

“There really was no need to do anything differently. If they had carried on as before, bowling the accurate lines and lengths that had reduced Pakistan to 176 for eight, they would have bowled them out for well under 200,” he said.

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The famous commentator also took a dig at England team for treating Rizwan like Virat Kohli and Steve Smith.

“It wasn’t as if they were bowling to Virat Kohli or Steve Smith, guys who routinely bat well with the lower order. This was Mohammad Rizwan we’re talking about — a Test novice with one half-century before this, trying to make his way in English conditions,” he said.

“Well played to him but he would have enjoyed the fact England departed from the plans that had served them so well, especially after lunch, when they made a slight adjustment and bowled fuller with predictable results,” he concluded.

With Pakistan’s first innings stretching into a third day and more rain forecast, a draw is already beginning to look the most likely result. England lead 1-0 in the three-match series.