After India’s dismal show with the bat in the first two Tests, England coach Trevor Bayliss has backed Kohli and his men’s much-criticised preparation for the ongoing Test series. He has stated that the beleaguered visitors couldn't have fit in more practice than what they did before the disastrous first two games.
India is currently trailing by 0-2 in the series. Before the next face-off, the English coach jumped in the visitors’ defence and said,
“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.”
“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,” he reasoned.
Bayliss said his team faces a similar dilemma while travelling.
“We play the practice matches that we do and get asked the same questions if your preparation right. Well, we'd love to have a few more games. But there aren't 10 days in a week,” he said.
India played just one practice match before the series which was curtailed to three days from the originally planned four days. The preparation has been roundly criticised by the likes of Sunil Gavaskar, who has questioned the logic of not having more build-up matches.