England coach Trevor Bayliss backs Alastair Cook
England coach Trevor Bayliss has come out in support of the woefully out-of-form Alastair Cook at a time when questions are being raised about his future, saying he is striking the ball as nicely as ever.
"Cooky has not changed his demeanour. You wouldn't know there was any difference between now and when he is scoring plenty of runs. He still practises as hard if not harder than anyone else. You watch him play in the nets and he is actually striking the ball quite nicely.
"His feet move well. I wouldn't say he is out of form - he is still hitting the ball well - he is out of runs in the middle. But he is giving himself every opportunity. He practices hard and he still plays an active roll in his position in the team," Bayliss said.
One of England's major concerns is the form of their openers. Cook has gone seven Test innings without a half-century while Keaton Jennings - his 12th opening partner- is yet to cross that mark in his last 14 Test innings.
The coach though backed both of them to do the job in the remaining two Tests against India. He added: "When he was with the Lions in Australia last year, it was about trying to get a little more flow to his batting. He is a very upright player so he is probably never going to be one of those guys who gets well down over the front knee and sniffs the ball. It was a little more about the rhythm.
"He's working on his backlift to get a little more rhythm and flow. It's not easy task batting against these guys in these conditions which have been difficult. But that's the job of an opening batsman."
The hosts collapsed for 161 runs on day two of the third test Test and never recovered as India won by 203 runs to pull one back in the five-match series.