Colombo: After guiding Kolkata Knight Riders and Sydney Sixers to title wins in the Indian Premier League and Big Bash respectively, Australian coach Trevor Harley Bayliss is set for a hat-trick in the Mahindra Sri Lanka Premier League (Mahindra SLPL). Bayliss, 49, the coach of Wayamba United, who stormed into the semifinal of the inaugural Mahindra SLPL as group toppers, praised the three T2-0 leagues for doing a fantastic job of promoting home-grown talent.
“It’s happening in the SLPL and it happened in KKR in IPL and in the Sydney Sixers team. Any such league will depend on the home-grown players as the overseas players would find it difficult to adjust to conditions. With KKR we obviously had a good tournament, and Wyamba United is going well so far,” Bayliss said in an exclusive interview here on Tuesday.
The Australia coach, under whom Sri Lanka finished as the runners-up in the 2011 ICC ODI World Cup shared the secret of his success in all the three T-20 leagues. “I have been really lucky, I have got very good players by the time, good captains too, and we played good cricket and put ourselves in winning positions. We did the right things,” he said.
Bayliss said he was lucky to have both Gautam Gambhir (KKR captain) and Mahela Jayawardane (Wayamba United captain) at the helm. “They are very good batsman and talented. Mahela has, obviously, a lot of international experience as a captain. It would have been great to have Indian players here,” the Aussie coach commented.
Asked to compare the three leagues, Bayliss said, “The IPL is so much bigger, more extravagant, but competition gives chance to young players. That is what the Mahindra SLPL is doing and we have got some really talented young players. There are lots of good players who would have never got an opportunity to play without the SLPL. As a result, we have seen some good spinners and players.”
Bayliss admitted he was enjoying the rare privilege of coaching three different sides in as many T-20 leagues. “It’s exciting to be in different countries and venues. So for sure, it does not get boring. It does not matter where you play in the IPL or SLPL. It’s a professional job. Winning is important, it does not matter whether you are playing a big or small game. The pressure is always there.”
By Indian Sports News Network
