Trevor Bayliss urges England not to worry about opposition

Ahead of the first Test at Rajkot, England coach Trevor Bayliss has urged his players to stop thinking about the opposition but rather to worry about themselves and how they were going to perform in the upcoming series against India. This tour also marks Trevor Bayliss’ first tour of India as coach of the England team. He has been here previously with Sri Lanka.

Bayliss also went on to heap a few praises on the Indian batsmen, singling out skipper Virat Kohli and his deputy Ajinkya Rahane. Bayliss also added the importance of having a plan for such players but not allowing the likes of Kohli and others to dominate the thoughts of his England players on tour. Bayliss was at his humorous best when he was asked who would his team target in the series between Ashwin and Kohli.

“If Kohli is bowling, that would be different,” Bayliss said before bursting into laughter. He settled down to a serious answer: “They are both very good players. If we concentrate on just two of their players, that will probably be the wrong way to go. They have got more than two very good players. We have got to concentrate on how we approach and how we go about our cricket. That has been our best approach over the last couple years.”

We worry about what we are doing but obviously there are a number of good players in the Indian team that we have got to look at and make sure we bat and bowl well against all of those players. We are here to play cricket and we are here to win cricket matches. Any competitive, young blooded male or person playing in a Test want to win and that takes over everything,” Bayliss added.

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Speaking about the selection of Jos Buttler in the side, Trevor Bayliss said, “He (Buttler) is as close as anyone else in the squad. We have two or three options in the batting order that we can take and certainly he has been in discussions along with Hameed as well. So, we are not going to make any judgments right now. We are going to wait until we get to Rajkot, have a look, see how they bat in the nets and see how they are looking.”

Bayliss also had a few words on the fitness of pacer James Anderson. “To get anyone back with that experience and a number of wickets will be good for everyone in the squad. Him being able to talk to younger bowlers about his experiences and how to bowl in these conditions will be of immense help,” the 53-year-old Bayliss said.

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