LONDON - Nasser Hussain urged Joe Root to lead in his own way and keep piling on the runs after he was appointed as England's new Test captain on Monday.
Yorkshire batsman Root, previously England's vice-captain, had long been the favourite to take over from Alastair Cook, who resigned as Test skipper last week after a national record 59 matches in charge.
Hussain was England captain from 1999-2003 and, as Root will have to do, combined the duties of leadership with being one of the side's top-order batsmen.
"Two bits of advice I'd give Joe are, one, do it your way because when it goes wrong it'll be you taking the blame and the second bit is look after your batting," Hussain told Sky Sports.
"That is the most important thing. I think England cricket fans will be saying 'yeah we love his captaincy but we want him to continue scoring runs'," he added, with Root currently averaging an impressive 52.80 in Tests.
"It generally follows a pattern where initially there's a massive lift in performance but for most England captains if there's a dip in form of the team then the weight of responsibility and the pressure lands on your shoulders. That can affect you and your form."
- 'Steely side to Root' -
Meanwhile Hussain said he expected England to play a more aggressive brand of Test cricket with Root at the helm than had been the case under Cook and the opener's immediate predecessor as skipper, Andrew Strauss.
"As captain I think he'll be different to Cook. More in the face of the opposition, more blatantly in charge of the team. That's Joe being Joe," he said.
"We've played under a couple of defensive captains in Strauss and Cook.
"Does he need to take it on in a more aggressive way? He has aggressive players in (Ben) Stokes, (Stuart) Broad and (Jonny) Bairstow. He's got to look at the side and create a culture going forward."
As for the 26-year-old Root's reputation as a 'cheeky' cricketer, Hussain said: "Don't be fooled by the boyish smile...he likes to joke around but there's a very serious side to Joe Root as we've seen in his cricket. He's a steely character."
Michael Atherton was a year younger than Root when he became England captain and warned the new skipper he would now face demands unlike anything else he had previously experienced in cricket.
"He's no longer just Joe Root, he's Joe Root England captain, with that comes all kinds of added responsibility he's not had before," Atherton, now the cricket correspondent of The Times newspaper, said.
"There's always a sense of uncertainty and unknowing, especially so with Root because he's pretty inexperienced when it comes to leadership.
"He's got just four first-class games really and the odd session when Cook left the field. What we do know is he's a singular, driven individual, one of the best players in the world and highly respected in the dressing room."
David Gower, another ex-England captain turned Sky broadcaster, backed Root to follow the example of fellow contemporary star batsman Virat Kohli.
"A lot of people are talking about Virat Kohli being given the job of India captain, no mean job at all, and he has responded brilliantly," said Gower.
"Joe has the same capacity to be exactly the same. He's certainly a good enough player, he doesn't have to doubt his ability, he just has to accept life will be a lot different and time will be short," added Gower, who first became England captain back in 1982.