After his side tormented Indian in the second Test at Lord's, England coach Trevor Bayliss has defended the Indian team and said that they could not have squeezed in more practice games before the Test series.
He said that owing to the packed schedules of teams these days, they do not get enough practice games to acclimatise to the situation before any 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.
'There aren't 10 days in a week'
The Australian empathised with the players and said that they need to have some rest as most of them play across all the three formats and hence it becomes difficult for them to play in all the matches.
India played a three-day warm-up match against Essex before the Test series and this has drawn the ire of several former players who slammed the team for being undercooked in the Test series.
However, the England coach said that even when his team travels abroad, they face a similar issue and they find it difficult to squeeze in too many practice games before the Test matches.
"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.
Speaking about the third Test, Bayliss said he hoped for similar conditions as he wants to use home advantage and that he was satisfied with the way his wards had performed so far.
"In these types of conditions (like Lord's), I don't think it'll matter what the wicket is like. Here there's always a little bit of grass on the wicket. With the overhead conditions, it's the big thing," he explained.
England have announced an unchanged squad for the Test side even as Ben Stokes continues to miss out owing to the ongoing trial in the affray charges. However, England seem to have all bases covered with Chris Woakes carving out a match-winning performance at Lord's.
"Woakesy is one of those guys who is very well respected in the team. He has done a lot of hard yards, not just with the ball but with the bat over the last few years too. He's a lovely bloke, and one of those guys who everyone genuinely wants to do well," Bayliss said about Woakes.
