Australia legends out of IND vs AUS Perth Test in a massive blow for the Home Team

Legendary Australian cricketers Ricky Ponting and Justin Langer are not likely to feature in the commentary panel for the first Test between Australia and India in Perth. Australia's bowling coach Daniel Vettori could also miss the match due to his commitments with Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Both Ricky Ponting and Justin Langer have commitments with their respective teams. Ponting is currently the head coach of Punjab Kings after being sacked from the role for Delhi Capitals a few months ago.

On the other hand, Langer is the head coach of Lucknow Super Giants. The IPL 2025 will be Justin Langer's second season for the role. While Ricky Ponting and Justin Langer were in the commentary panel, Daniel Vettori is the current head coach of Sunrisers Hyderabad.

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IPL commitments likely to force Ricky Ponting and Justin Langer out of Perth Test

According to a report in the Australian newspaper The Age, Channel Seven is unlikely to have Ricky Ponting and Justin Langer for some part of the Perth Test because it clashes with this year's mega auction.

The newspaper reportedly claimed that all these cricketers would be in Saudi Arabia's Jeddah city for the auction during that time. It also claimed that a huge deal of AUD 1.5 billion might also not prevent Ponting and Langer from missing the latter part of the first Test.

“Unless (Channel) Seven and Cricket Australia can protect their interests against powerful cricket authorities in India, Ponting, Langer, and Australia assistant coach Dan Vettori will likely be in Saudi Arabia holding a paddle at the IPL’s mega player auction in Jeddah instead of being at Optus Stadium when the first Test reaches its conclusion," the newspaper wrote.

‘Seven’ has a seven-year AUD 1.5 billion deal with Foxtel for the broadcast of the game in Australia and even that, many fear, can’t stop Ponting or Langer from missing the last three days of the Perth Test, it added.

Every year, the members of the IPL coaching staff have to leave their respective international commitments to be present for the IPL auction. Ricky Ponting left after Day 3 of the Perth Test last year to attend the auction.

On the other hand, Justin Langer stayed till the end of the match before leaving for the auction. Daniel Vettori too finished his duties with the Australian cricket team before joining his Sunrisers Hyderabad coaching staff in the auction.

No decision on Daniel Vettori's availability at auction

According to The Age, it is still not clear whether Daniel Vettori will leave the team midway or join after the end of the match. A decision on it will be taken soon but the former New Zealand captain will likely stay till the end of the Perth Test.

“As of Wednesday morning, no decision had been made on whether Vettori would stay with the team through the entire Test or leave early for the auction, according to a team source with knowledge of the situation," The Age reported.

Clash between Perth Test in Australia and IPL 2025 auction

The first Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy will be played from November 22-26 in Optus Stadium, Perth. Meanwhile, the IPL 2025 auction is scheduled to take place on November 24 and 25 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

It will be a mega auction this time and a no. of high profile players will be up in the auction as well. Some of the high-profile Indian names in the auction are Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammed Shami, and Yuzvendra Chahal.