IPL mega auction on a Monday, clashing with a Test match featuring India and Australia as well as the start of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, the premier domestic T20 competition in the country which for many youngsters is a pathway to catch eyeballs of potential scouts and support staffs of the various teams. But it is what it is. The two-day mega auction set to take place on November 24 and 25 in Jeddah in Saudi Arabia might not be scheduled in the best of windows and the clash has attracted a lot of severe reactions from the former cricketers.
The timings of the Test match in Perth and the two-day auction may not actually be clashing but someone like Daniel Vettori, assistant coach for Australia and head coach of the Sunrisers Hyderabad, will have to miss the series opener altogether. Or a Ricky Ponting, the Punjab Kings head coach and Justin Langer, in charge of the Lucknow Super Giants, both are part of the commentary team for Channel 7 for the series and will have to do a lot of air miles to be able to give themselves fully to both the big events.
“It’s the worst possible case scenario for me and JL [Langer],” Ponting was quoted as saying by Sydney Morning Herald. Ponting mentioned that many thought that the 10-day window between the first and second Tests might have been utilised for the same but the clash has put their plans in jeopardy, not just for both of them but for the Channel too, who will have to call in last-minute replacements.
“We for the last couple of months felt that it was probably going to be in the gap between the Test matches. It takes all the pressure off the players from both teams. There are a lot of players in both teams in the auction.
“So I always thought it would have been in that gap because it just seemed better for everybody. But I don’t know why they’ve chosen the dates they have – it might have something to do with the game. The auction actually starts on air almost immediately after the end of play. So it might be something to do with broadcast,” Ponting added while hoping to be back in time for the final day of the Test match if it goes that far.
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Similarly, Michael Vaughan, who is also part of Fox’s commentary team too wasn’t glad with the scheduling saying that it might shift some of the players’s focus from the running Test match, especially for those, who are expected to create bidding wars.
“I don’t agree with the fact that they put the IPL auction in the middle of the first Test. I think it’s ridiculous. We’ve got a nine-day break in between the first and the second (Tests) why they’re putting it there when you know the players are under pressure playing in a Test match, why they’d want to sway the profile of that Test match onto an IPL auction in Saudi I’m not too sure,” Vaughan told Code Sports.
