Former Australia cricketers Ricky Ponting and Justin Langer will leave the India vs Australia first Test in Perth midway as Channel Seven were forced to make last-minute changes to their commentary team due to the IPL auctions. The mega auction is set to take place in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on November 24 and 25. The two-day event will clash with the series opener of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Perth, starting on the 22nd.
Ponting and Langer have chosen the IPL auction over their commentary duties for the first Test. Ponting is the head coach of the Punjab Kings. He was at the helm of the Delhi Capitals till last season before switching sides ahead of the start of this season. Langer, on the other hand, is head coach of the Lucknow Super Giants.
The presence of Langer and Ponting at the auction table is necessary for PBKS and LSG, respectively. Notably, both franchises will enter the auction in search of a captain.
Ponting was under the impression that the mega auction would take place between the Test matches. But it wasn’t to be. He called it the “worst possible case.”
“It’s the worst possible case scenario for me and ‘JL’,” Ponting 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.
