... but England coach takes a lenient view

London, August 14 

England coach Trevor Bayliss has defended India’s much-criticised preparation for the ongoing Test series, saying the beleaguered visitors couldn’t have fit in more practice than what they did before the Test series began. “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,” said Bayliss.  “Somewhere along the line 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.

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 former cricketers, who have questioned the logic of not having more build-up matches.  

Bayliss said his team faces similar dilemma while travelling. “We play the practice matches that we do and get asked the same questions about our preparation. Well, we’d love to have a few more games. But there aren’t 10 days in a week,” he said. — PTI