Trevor Bayliss defends India against criticism over inadequate practice games

Amid the wide criticism that the Indian team has faced for their inadequate preparation for the much-anticipated age Test series against England, the beleaguered visitors have found support from an unlikely quarter. England’s coach Trevor Bayliss has said that the criticism was not fair since their packed schedule wouldn’t have permitted the Indians to play more practice matches than they did ahead of the Test series.

India were blown away in the second Test at Lord’s as they faced repeated batting collapses to lose the game by an innings and 159 runs. In the first Test too, the tourists failed to convert a possible opportunity for victory into an actual win because of the batters’ inadequacy. India now trail 0-2 in the series, inviting wrath from former cricketer like Sunil Gavaskar who feels lack of enough warm-up games led to their woes.

India played only one warm-up game ahead of the Test series and it was a three-day game against Essex at Chelmsford. Even that game saw curtailing of a day because of extreme weather conditions and packed Test series.
“The simple fact is, teams like Australia, India and England play so much cricket. I’m sure everyone would love to play more warm-up matches than they do. You simply can’t fit them in,” Bayliss told reporters.

“Somewhere along the lines the players have to have some sort of rest. Most will play all the games but to keep putting more practice matches in, it’s almost impossible. It’s just the way it is,” the former Australian first-class player said.

‘England face similar challenge when travelling’

Bayliss also said that England also face similar challenges while travelling and encounter comparable criticism. He said as visitors, England would also love to have more side games but rued that the week doesn’t have more than seven days. He praised the team for their show in the series and was satisfied with every aspect of the host’s game so far.

“The first Test was a dogfight, and this one looked like being the same at four or five down in the first innings. Jonny Bairstow and Chris Woakes batted extremely well, and then the bowlers did the business again,” said Bayliss, who expected home advantage at Trent Bridge as well.

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