Andrew McDonald, the senior assistant coach of Australia team has decided to give the upcoming limited-overs tour to England a miss, in order to fulfill his commitments to his IPL franchise Rajasthan Royals. McDonald is the head coach of the RR team for the upcoming IPL 2020 to be played in UAE from September 19.

"Australian men's team Senior Assistant Coach Andrew McDonald will not travel with the squad to the UK to fulfill a pre-existing commitment as Head Coach of the Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League," Cricket Australia said in a statement.

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McDonald replaced Paddy Upton as the head coach as the RR management went for an overhaul of support staff. The Royals are expected to fly to the UAE after August 20. The 39-year-old will resume his duties with the Australian men's team at the conclusion of the IPL.

Given that Australia is scheduled to travel to England to play three T20 Internationals and as many ODIs from September 4-16; many players from both sides including top draws like David Warner, Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer, Steve Smith, and Pat Cummins are set to miss the first week of IPL as the tournament's SOP requires six days of quarantine on arrival in the UAE.

(PTI Inputs)