Fit-again England all-rounder Ben Stokes says Pakistan's Yasir Shah is the best leg-spinner since Shane Warne.
Yasir span his side to victory in the first Investec Test at Lord's, with match figures of 10 for 141 inspiring a 75-run win on Sunday and cementing his place at the top of the ICC world rankings.
England looked all at sea against his leg spin, particularly in the first innings, and conditions look set to suit him even more for the second Test at Emirates Old Trafford, which starts on Friday.
Stokes, who looks set to return to the team in Manchester after a knee operation, knows exactly how good Yasir is.
"Yasir Shah, I reckon, is the best leg-spinner 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 has been missing for England after injuring his knee in the first Test of the summer against Sri Lanka in May.
He has been in action for Durham playing as a batsman, but after being ruled unfit for the opener against Pakistan, he resumed all-rounder duties for his county against Lancashire earlier this week.
After coming through unscathed in Southport, Stokes is raring to go for his country again.
"It's the first game where I have played doing both parts of my game," he added, in a press conference broadcast on Sky Sports News.
"I have been playing as a batsman for two weeks, 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's return is timely given England's result in the Lord's Test.
Stokes will add much-needed strength to a brittle-looking middle order and he is backing the home side to turn things around.
He said: "It's a really big game. To keep the series alive and take confidence into the next Test we want to win this game.
"Losing is something that we can't afford to do but we have 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."
Source: PA
