The second and third days of the first Test between India and Australia coincide with the 2025 Indian Premier League (IPL) mega auction. This has led to some talk of players in both sides being affected by what happens in the auction. Additionally, it also led to some awkward schedule changes for former players involved in both series in different capacities and this includes Australia's assistant coach Dan Vettori, who is also head coach of the Sunrisers Hyderabad.

It was decided early on that Vettori will fly to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, for the IPL auction, set to be held on November 24 and 25. Australia captain Pat Cummins said on Thursday that Vettori has flown already. “Dan has obviously flown over there. But he has been here for the whole prep, we've done a lot meetings, done all the chats and he will be watching and keeping an eye on it anyway,” he told reporters on the eve of the first Test.

'It won't affect the players'

Cummins himself has ample experience of the auction. He won't be on the block on the weekend, having been retained by the Sunrisers as their captain. However, practically all of his teammates will be. The pacer however believes that the fact that the auction will happen simultaneously with the Test won't affect the players.

“For the players, I don't think so. Most of the guys have been in the auction before and the reality is you can't really do anything. Just sitting back and seeing if you get selected or not. It's not a distraction as far as I can see it,” he said.

Australia greats Ricky Ponting and Justin Langer are two others who are affected by the scheduling. Both are part of the host broadcasters' commentary team for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and head coaches of their respective sides in the IPL. "It’s the worst possible case scenario for me and ‘JL’,” Ponting had said. “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’s a lot of players in both teams in the auction.

“So I always thought it would’ve 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," said Ponting.

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