The IPL 2025 mega auction will clash with days 3 and 4 of the first Test in Perth.
Pat Cummins has sternly stated that Australian players will not be distracted by the IPL 2025 mega auction that takes place during the first BGT 2024 Test in Perth.
The series opener in Perth clashes with the IPL auction, which takes place in Jeddah on November 24 and 25. The broadcasters have ensured that the two big-ticket events do not overlap, with the opening day of the IPL auction beginning after the third day of play in Perth.
However, Australia will be missing assistant coach Daniel Vettori, who was granted permission to leave the Perth Test to attend the auction with SunRisers Hyderabad.
Cummins supported Australia's decision to allow Vettori to enter the auction and stated that his players would concentrate on the task at hand in the Perth Test.
"Yeah, I think he is there in the auction. I don't think so (it will be a distraction). Dan has flown over there, but he has been here for the whole prep. Done all the meetings, done all the chats, watching it. We came to know that anyway.
So, for the players, I don't think so. Most of these guys have been there in the auctions before. They know they can't really do anything. You are a sitting duck and seeing whether you get selected or not. It doesn't... doesn't make a difference to how we go about the first two days. It is not a distraction as far as I can see it,” Cummins told the press in Perth on the eve of the first Test.
Pat Cummins and Travis Head were the only two Australian players who were retained on the deadline day. Both players play for Sunrisers Hyderabad and will continue to do so in IPL 2025. Most of the players from Australia's 13-man squad, including Steve Smith and Mitchell Starc, are part of the auction pool.
The clash of dates could have been avoided as there was a nine-day gap between the two Tests.
(PTI inputs)