The Warwickshire batsman is in the race for a place in the Test side, with the likes of Alex Hales, James Vince, Nick Compton and Gary Ballance not performing in the recently concluded home series against Sri Lanka and Pakistan and now, Trevor Bayliss, the England coach, might have to fall back on the experience of Bell.
"There is no doubting Ian Bell's class and his record in the sub-continent - I think he averages over 40 in the sub-continent," Hussain told Sky Sports on Tuesday (August 23).
"But he didn't have a good time of it in the UAE recently and that is why he was left out.
"I would personally like to look to the future, especially with the tour of Bangladesh. I don't see the mileage of taking Bell, albeit a fantastic player, so I would look to the future.
"But they have gone for a couple of players like Vince who haven't done much and might want that consistent solidity that Ian Bell would bring," he added.
England play Bangladesh in a couple of Tests later this year and Hussain feels that the short series can be used to bring in someone and give him first-hand experience of the sub-continental conditions before the big tour to India.
"I personally would look to, especially in Bangladesh, blood a youngster and give a youngster an opportunity. Whether that youngster be (Ben) Duckett, who has not just done it in one-day cricket, or other lads like (Tom) Westley, (Daniel) Bell-Drummond, (Scott) Borthwick... There are other lads who have done fine things this summer.
"It would be a bit of a backward step but I understand that they keep giving people chances and they are not taking them, so there is that temptation to go back to Ian Bell who is a very fine international cricketer," he concluded.
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