Ben Stokes hails Yasir Shah as 'best since Shane Warne'

Ben Stokes, the England all-rounder, has hailed Pakistan legspinner Yasir Shah as the best in world cricket since Australian legend Shane Warne.

Shah ripped through the England batting line-up in the first Test at Lord's, picking up 10 wickets in the match to help Pakistan take a 1-0 lead. The performance also helped the 30-year-old to move to the top of the Test bowlers rankings.

Speaking to the media on Wednesday (July 22), two days ahead of the second Test at Old Trafford, Stokes acknowledged the threat posed by the Pakistan legspinner. "Yasir Shah, I reckon, is the best legspinner since Shane Warne," Stokes said. "They are a very good team but we go into the Test match knowing how he goes about bowling and we should be able to counteract that. (The conditions are) another thing we will have to try and adapt to and we'll just see how it goes."

Stokes is also keen to make an impact in his comeback game after being sidelined by a knee injury in May against Sri Lanka. The Durham all-rounder, who underwent a surgery on his left knee, played for his county purely as a batsman for before resuming bowling in the recently-concluded clash against Lancashire. The 25-year-old picked up three crucial wickets in the second innings against Lancashire and then hit a 43-ball 36 during the run chase as his side won by two wickets.

"It's the first game where I have played doing both parts of my game," he said. "I have been playing as a batsman for two weeks, (so) it is something I definitely did need to get myself back into match situations.

"I have been bowling in the nets but you can't replicate doing that, the only thing you can do is bowl in a game. So it was good on that point and it was a massive confidence boost. It seems a lot longer than it has been. I thought I was going to be back earlier than I was, purely because of how good the rehab was in the first few weeks. I am here now and I'm back fully fit," The 25-year-old all-rounder said.

Despite having conceded an early lead in the series, Stokes is hopeful of a strong comeback from England and hopes his side's recent form in Test cricket can help them overcome the Lord's defeat.

"Losing is something that we can't afford to do but we have been playing some good Test cricket over the last two years. It's one defeat, we are not taking it to heart. We're just treating it as a three-match series and hoping we can win it," Stokes said.