Stung coach departs India tour early

Trevor Bayliss has left England’s tour of India a day early to return home to Australia for a minor hernia operation with his team in rather worse shape than he would have hoped for.

Being 3-0 down in the series and with speculation swirling over the future of Alastair Cook’s captaincy was bad enough.

But to then concede your country’s record Test total on the penultimate day of an arduous 10-week slog around the sub-continent capped a miserable couple of months for England.

Bayliss will no doubt be stinging after he goes under the knife in Sydney over the coming days but his players are already smarting after India amassed 7-759 declared on day four of this fifth Test.

That Karun Nair, whose highest Test score before this match was 13, made an unbeaten triple hundred rubbed salt into English wounds.

Could it well be the tipping point for Cook’s captaincy after more than four years in the job?

“Possibly,” said Bayliss. “I haven’t even spoken to him about it. I won’t do – that’s a decision only he will know the answer to.

“He’s done it for so long, whether I say yes or no, it won’t change his mind whether he keeps going or stops.

“If he keeps going, fantastic; if he stops, that’s up to him, and I’ve got no problems with that either.

“I’m sure we’ll speak on the phone at some stage. I won’t actually sit down to have a chat with him. I’m not going to put words into Cooky’s mouth or try and get him to make a decision one way or the other.

“He’s been around long enough, and knows his own mind, to make the right decision. I think he deserves everyone letting him do that.”

Bayliss had originally been scheduled to see his surgeon in Sydney after this series had concluded.

But the physician got an early cut before Christmas and moved the former New South Wales coach’s appointment forward. If he had not returned early Bayliss would have had to wait until February for his op given England have a limited-overs tour of India to come next month.

By then Joe Root could be England’s next Test captain, Cook’s fate resting on the outcome of talks with Andrew Strauss, England’s director of cricket, in the new year.

Is Root ready? “Joe is obviously our number one bat, and is highly-respected by the players,” Bayliss said. “He’s one of those guys who leads by example, and I can't see that being any different when, and if, he takes over.

“That will come next if Cookie does step down. But he seems like he’s the leading candidate at this stage.”

As for England’s performances in India, where Australia will visit for a four-Test series early next year, Bayliss added: “On this tour, we’ve been outclassed – you put your hands up and say 'Well played, India'.

“They’ve batted better than us and bowled better than us.

“We have got some way to go yet, certainly playing away from home in the sub-continent.

“We're not the first team to struggle here, and probably won’t be the last.”

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