Speaking on Sony Ten Pit Stop, Hussain was responding to Joe Root’s comments that Stokes is of the Virat Kohli mould as far as captaincy is concerned and would want to lead with example.

“He [Stokes] is a fighter of a character,” Hussain said. “He thinks from every situation, you can win that game, and we have seen that at Headingley, we have seen that at the World Cup. He has very similar characteristics to Kohli, to be honest. He wants to win.”

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Though Hussain concurred with Root as far as the likeness to Kohli is concerned, he believes Stokes, the current England vice-captain, is the kind of leader that “doesn’t need the armband”.

“I think he would make a very good captain. The only problem with that is, I would say, in England, sometimes we have made our best cricketers and our all-rounders captains, whether it be [Ian] Botham or whoever. Sometimes, it doesn’t sit when you’ve got so much on your plate.

“And Ben is a leader in that dressing room anyway. People look at Stokes, even if he is vice-captain and go, ‘What’s Ben doing? How would Ben do this?’ I like it the way it is at the moment – Joe [Root]’s captain, Ben is your vice-captain. There are leaders that don’t need the arm-band and I think Ben Stokes is one of those.

“But I think on a short-term basis, Ben Stokes in a one-off game at the Ageas Bowl, or maybe a couple of games, I think he would stand in and do a very good job.”

Stokes is ready to lead the side in the absence on full-time captain Joe Root, who might have to miss part of upcoming three-match Test series v West Indies for the birth of his second child.