Among those pinning hopes on Yasir is Pakistan’s legendary leg-spinner Abdul Qadir who believes the 30-year-old can lead Pakistan’s attack.
“If there is turn in the English wickets then Yasir will lead the attack and the other bowlers will play a supporting role,” Qadir told media from Lahore on Wednesday.
“I have seen some recent T20s in England and the ball is still swinging in the air.”
With the Lord’s Test being Yasir’s first outside Asia, Qadir termed it “would be interesting to see how he fares in the England series”.
He was, however, concerned for Yasir in case the lively English wickets did not help him.
“If there is no break in the wicket then Yasir will struggle,” he said. “He would have to bowl longer spells in the anticipation of lateral movement off the wicket.
“In this scenario, it would become easy for the Englishmen to negotiate his spin as they will only have to plant their feet in the line of the ball.”
Yasir returned match figures of 6-117 in Pakistan’s first tour match against Somerset last week.
After bowling 10-overs in the first innings, Yasir bowled 32 overs in the second innings and bagged four scalps.
Qadir feels that the nature of wickets will determine Yasir’s success on the tour.
“He will struggle to utilise his leg-spin, googly, and flippers if the English curators leave grass on the wicket. Then Yasir’s utility will only be limited to provide seam bowlers long rests.”
Qadir had an outstanding career against England — out of his 368 wickets, 105 scalps were of Englishmen — and he hopes England’s inability to cope with spin bowling will put the odds in Yasir’s favour.
“England has struggled against the leg-spinners in every part of the world,” he said.
“They have produced remarkable pace bowlers, but it is the leg-spinner who wins the game after the fast bowlers.” Qadir maintained
