Cricket

Australia's bowling coach Daniel Vettori will temporarily leave the team during the first Test against India in Perth to attend the IPL auction in Saudi Arabia as the head coach of Sunrisers Hyderabad. The Test match begins on November 22, while the IPL auction will take place in Jeddah on November 24-25.Vettori's departure has raised concerns as he is one of the few coaches in world cricket who holds a permanent assistant role with an international team while also being the full-time head coach of an IPL franchise and a Hundred side. He has been Australia's bowling coach for all three formats since 2022, working under Andrew McDonald.Cricket Australia has expressed support for Vettori's role with Sunrisers Hyderabad, allowing him to complete final preparations for the first Test before attending the auction. He will then rejoin the team for the remainder of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.The prioritization of the IPL auction over a Test match highlights the growing influence of franchise cricket. Ricky Ponting and Justin Langer, who are employed as commentators with Channel Seven, will also miss part of the Test to attend the auction as head coaches of Punjab Kings and Lucknow Super Giants, respectively.Vettori has previously missed certain series due to his franchise commitments, but this will be the first time he leaves midway through a Test to attend the IPL auction. CA is advertising for a new full-time national pace bowling coach to fill in for Vettori on future tours.On Monday, Vettori worked closely with Australia's bowling unit at their first day of training at the WACA ground. He also threw left-arm orthodox deliveries to the batters in preparation for facing Ravindra Jadeja in the Perth Test.Australia had two consultants working with their main coaching team on Monday: former Australia batter Michael Hussey and former Glamorgan allrounder Jim Allenby. Both men will be with the team all week in the lead-up to the Test match.Fielding coach Andre Borovec and stand-in T20 captain Josh Inglis will join the Test squad in Perth after the conclusion of the T20I series against Pakistan in Hobart. National development coach Lachlan Stevens will also provide additional support for the team when Vettori departs.

Australia's Border-Gavaskar Trophy preparations have hit a snag as assistant coach Daniel Vettori is set to depart midway through the first Test to attend the IPL 2025 mega auction. Vettori, who is also the head coach of IPL runners-up Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), will need to be present for the auction, which clashes with the Test match days.The IPL 2025 mega auction is scheduled for November 24 and 25, coinciding with the first Australia-India Test in Perth, which runs from November 22 to 26. Vettori's absence will be a significant blow to Australia, who are looking to regain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy after losing it in India last year.Vettori is not the only Australian coaching staff member who will be leaving for the IPL auction. Ricky Ponting and Justin Langer, who are head coaches of Punjab Kings (PBKS) and Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) respectively, are also expected to depart midway through the Perth Test.The IPL's growing stature and financial clout have made it increasingly difficult for players and coaches to prioritize international commitments. The league is now one of the richest and most-watched in the world, offering lucrative contracts and the opportunity to work with top players and coaches.Vettori's departure highlights the challenges facing cricket boards in balancing the demands of international cricket with the allure of the IPL. While the IPL provides financial benefits and opportunities for players and coaches, it can also disrupt national team preparations and create scheduling conflicts.Despite the challenges, Australia will be determined to put on a strong performance in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. They will be led by Pat Cummins, who is also retained by SRH along with Travis Head. The team will be looking to bounce back from their disappointing loss in India and reclaim the trophy on home soil.

Sunrisers Hyderabad's remarkable turnaround under the leadership of Pat Cummins and coach Daniel Vettori has been a testament to their aggressive batting approach. After finishing last in 2023, the team has posted three 260-plus totals, including the highest IPL total of 287/3.Cummins, who had never led in T20s before, credits the team's success to giving their batters the freedom to express themselves. "We've given them the freedom to go and do it their way and take the game on," he said.Travis Head has epitomized this approach, playing with aggression and freedom. "He's naturally aggressive," Cummins said. "We've given him the freedom to go and do it his way and take the game on."Abhishek Sharma has also been a standout performer, opening the batting with Head. "He's loving batting with Travis Head," Cummins said. "Just going out, playing shots. He's naturally aggressive."Vettori's role as coach has been crucial, allowing Cummins to focus on his own game. "He's good strategically," Cummins said. "And he's a great people manager. Very hands-on. The team's responding really well to Dan."The high-scoring nature of this season's IPL has presented challenges for bowlers, but Cummins believes it's a matter of adjusting expectations. "Even if you bowl an over for eight or nine, that could be a match-winning at the right time," he said.Cummins also discussed the impact player rule, which allows teams to field an extra batter. "It feels like the batting order is longer now," he said. "But as a captain, it feels like you've got five really good bowling options."Despite their success, SRH have struggled while chasing down totals. "It's something we need to get better at," Cummins admitted.Overall, Sunrisers Hyderabad's resurgence has been a result of their aggressive batting approach, led by Cummins and Vettori's leadership.

Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) head coach Daniel Vettori has identified the team's need to improve its chasing abilities as the Indian Premier League (IPL) enters its crucial stages. SRH currently sits third in the standings with five wins from eight games, but four of those victories have come while batting first."We have been successful setting totals and now we have to look at how well we are in chasing," Vettori said after SRH's 35-run loss to Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) on Thursday.RCB posted a challenging 206 for 7 after opting to bat and then restricted SRH to 171 for 8. Despite breaching the 250-run mark thrice this season, SRH struggled to chase down the target due to a rare failure of its top and middle-order."Obviously, disappointing one where we have come from in the last four games; we played some really good cricket and even though we lost, you could see if we had some wickets at the back end, we could have still chased it down," Vettori said."Those early wickets broke everything. We were confident for the scores we were being able to put up. We though that 206 was a good score, we probably let a few runs in the field. But there was confidence in the group because of past performances."Vettori emphasized that there are no easy games in the IPL. "Unfortunately, we didn't get the support through the middle stages. It's a tough loss but we understand every team in the IPL can beat every team. There are no easy games at all," he said.The coach also downplayed the significance of an anchor role in high-scoring matches. "I think the wicket was still pretty good. The guys who came off said that it is a surface where you can score on. Anchor role when you are chasing 207 it is hard to come, you obviously need to be aggressive. For some to sit along and play anchor role is a little bit tricky."Meanwhile, RCB all-rounder Swapnil Singh expressed relief after his side snapped its six-match losing streak. "Experience was good but we won the game that was more important. When you win a game, the tempo in the team changes. It feels good. Last two games we missed by small difference but still long way to go," he said.Singh said they felt the target was achievable despite SRH's aggressive batting order. "The ball was stopping. Our main aim was to spin the ball and bowl slower as a fast bowler. It helped, we knew that they will come hard at us and obviously they did.""Yes, we felt so because the wicket was stopping when we were batting as well and dew was not there," he added.