How the IPL may have helped Trevor Bayliss become England's new head coach

Amid a tumultuous period in English cricket, marked by the continuing bloodletting from the Kevin Pietersen fiasco, Trevor Bayliss was surprisingly appointed England’s new head coach last month after weeks of intense speculation.

With another Ashes looming, and England desperate to avenge their 5-0 humiliation from 18 months ago, Bayliss succeeds the much-maligned Peter Moores, who was sacked by Andrew Strauss, England’s new director of cricket.

Former Australia paceman Jason Gillespie was the strong favourite for the job, as the prevailing sentiment was that England needed fresh ideas, especially when it came to the limited overs game. That hard Aussie-edge seemed to be exactly what the English have been missing.

However, despite having support from influential cricket figures, Gillespie, who has impressed as head coach at Yorkshire, was overtaken by his compatriot on the finishing line. Bayliss’ diverse experience proved irresistible. He also becomes the first Australian coach of the England team.

While a less prominent figure than Gillespie, Bayliss has quietly and effectively been honing his expertise across the world.

He never played international cricket but was a solid and courageous batsman for New South Wales for more than a decade. But it is as a shrewd coach that the 52-year-old Bayliss has found his niche, with success following his every move. He has coached with aplomb at New South Wales and Australian T20 franchise the Sydney Sixers. Notably, he had success during his four-year stint with Sri Lanka, where he guided them to the 2009 World T20 final and the ODI World Cup final in 2011.

For Indian cricket fans, Bayliss is probably most closely associated with his role as coach of the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the Indian Premier League (IPL), a position he has held since 2012.

With the next World T20 to be played in India just 12 months away, Bayliss’ success in the high-pressured, and highly scrutinised, IPL might well have played some part in his being preferred over Gillespie.

KKR struggled in the early years of the IPL. High-profile coaches John Buchanan, Matthew Mott and Dav Whatmore were unable to propel the team to the dizzying heights expected by their owner Shah Rukh Khan, and demanded by their fans.

Bayliss can’t be credited with solely transforming the franchise, as KKR had their first successful season in 2011 – the year before he joined the team. But from the moment he took the reins, Bayliss added more gravitas to KKR, who immediately won the IPL in 2012 and replicated that success in 2014.

Bayliss, who has been labelled “old school” due to his renowned acerbic persona, can take a healthy share of the credit for hardening KKR and moulding them into an IPL powerhouse, though the team narrowly failed to make the Playoffs this year

It is no easy feat to transform a team branded an expensive disappointment into champions. The transformation remains perhaps Bayliss’ crowning achievement in an already glittering 10-year coaching career.

Much like his approach with the Sixers, Bayliss resisted the temptation to splurge money on a handful of superstars and instead his belief that KKR required an even spread of talent to sure up their depth paid dividends.

It provides perhaps an insight how Bayliss will handle the continuing fallout of Pietersen’s controversial banishment from the international ranks. But like what he achieved at KKR, where he didn’t rely on a particular superstar, Bayliss will know his success with England will be dependent on developing young players and spotting emerging county players in a determined bid to create more depth. England’s top end talent – Alastair Cook, James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Ian Bell and Joe Root – is elite but drops off noticeably after that.

Bayliss has been acclaimed as a wily tactician, with a healthy audacious streak . In the IPL, Bayliss recognised the value of mystery spinners, testament to the success of Sunil Narine and Brad Hogg at KKR. It spoke of Bayliss’ ability to think outside the box, something England cricket is desperately craving.

Forever traditionalists, England have generally only cared about Test cricket, and their continued ineptness at the 20 and 50 over formats has been predictable (though they did win the 2010 World T20). But that rigid belief seems to be eroding with the appointments of Strauss and Bayliss. Hoarding silverware from the IPL and Australian Big Bash has helped shape Bayliss’ perception as arguably the best T20 coach in the world. His appointment speaks volumes of England’s newfound approach to markedly improve in the shorter formats.

Despite his past achievements, nobody knows how Bayliss will fare. Amid all the petty bickering, perhaps the England gig is really a poisoned chalice. But as KKR fans can attest, Bayliss has the knack of conjuring the miraculous.