Punjab Kings head coach Trevor Bayliss to skip Sydney Thunder's BBL match for IPL auction

The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 auction will be taking place in Dubai at the Coca-Cola Arena on December 19 making it the first-ever instance of an auction taking place overseas.

As ESPNcricinfo reported, Bayliss, who is a head coach of PBKS, flew to India in the middle of the 2022-23 BBL season to participate in last year's auction, but his journey this year will cause him to miss a fixture in his job at home. Other coaches, notably Andy Flower in early 2022, have already departed tournaments to attend the IPL auction.

Australia's assistant coach Daniel Vettori flew to Dubai immediately after the team's Test triumph over Pakistan in Perth to perform his duty as Sunrisers Hyderabad's new coach, while Delhi Capitals coach Ricky Ponting was not on Channel 7's commentary team on the fourth day. Justin Langer, the new coach of the Lucknow Super Giants, has postponed his trip till after the Test.

Bayliss took over as Thunder coach ahead of the 2021-22 BBL season and has led the side to the playoffs in both seasons. Thunder lost their season opener to the Brisbane Heat last week and will face the Strikers at Adelaide Oval on Tuesday.

In Bayliss' absence, his assistant, Shawn Bradstreet, will serve as temporary head coach.

"Bayliss is expected to return for the Thunder's match against the Melbourne Stars later this week," the Thunder said in a statement.

"We don't think we need to strengthen up a whole heap. But I suppose the possibility of strengthening in two or three areas we think will make us a stronger team next year... We want to play a positive, aggressive brand of cricket so we're looking for players to come into those two or three spots with that type of mindset," Bayliss told Kings' in-house channels as quoted by ESPNcricinfo. (ANI)