Bayliss blames 'survival-first mentality' for 0-2 trail in Test series against India

England head coach Trevor Bayliss believes that the survival-first mentality of his batsman is to be blamed for the team's current 0-2 trail in the ongoing five-match Test series against India.

Having drawn the first Test in Rajkot, the Alastair Cook-led side suffered crushing defeats in Visakhapatnam and Mohali.

At the moment, India is looking dominant enough to clinch the five-match series with both their batters and bowlers performing exceedingly well. On the other hand, after the drawn Rajkot Test, Cook and his men have failed to come up with a good batting performance---a major reason for their debacle in the other two games.

The England head coach has, however, said he will "step up to the mark" and reissue orders to failing batting lineup before the final two Tests.

"The players are in a good space," Bayliss was quoted as saying by the Guardian. "We have been outplayed by the Indian team but when I look at where we are heading there have been enough good things happening in this series to suggest we are heading in the right direction."

"The first three innings of this series we had a nice positive approach to the game, in our mind and with our mental approach. If you look at batters who scored runs they were proactive, trying to be positive, which means they will defend well but when opportunities come along to attack we take them," he added.

The 53-year-old insisted that the team have moved on from mindset of survival.

"The message to the guys in the last two Tests will be to approach it a bit more like we did in the first Test and maybe the first innings of the second Test when Jonny Bairstow and Ben Stokes got together [in a stand of 110]."

When asked if these instructions would be delivered by him or Cook, Bayliss answered: "It will be up to me to play a role there. Probably over the last few series Cooky has taken on more of a role there, which has been great. But I think for the coming couple of Tests it is time I stepped up to the mark to just remind them of how we have played when we have played well."

It would be a herculean task for the visitors to restore their confidence and stage a comeback in the upcoming games.

The two teams will now lock horns in the fourth Test to be played at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai from December 8.