Ricky Ponting Reveals Why PBKS Shockingly Released Australian Star For IPL 2026

Punjab Kings (PBKS) head coach Ricky Ponting said that he would have ‘loved’ to retain Josh Inglis, but it wasn’t possible because the wicketkeeper-batter won’t be available for ‘the majority’ of the IPL 2026 season.

It came as a huge surprise when Inglis’ name was missing from PBKS’ retention list. He played 11 matches for the team last season — his first in the league — scoring 278 runs at an average of 30.89 and a strike-rate of 162.57. In a short period, he proved to be an excellent asset for Indian conditions, with his ability to bat across multiple positions, effortlessly clear the boundaries, and maneuver spinners.

“Josh Inglis is another one who played some great knocks for us in the back half of the tournament,” Ponting said on Star Sports

after PBKS confirmed their retentions for the IPL 2026 season. “He missed a few games through the course of the season due to various reasons. He has also made me aware this year that he wasn’t going to be available for the majority of the tournament. So for that reason, I found it pretty much impossible to be able to be able to retain him,” the head coach said.

PBKS also released Glenn Maxwell, who is much more established in Australia and the IPL but struggled in his return to Punjab last year, managing only 48 runs in six innings.

“Love Glenn and what he brings to the game. Unfortunately, last year we weren’t able to get the best out of him,” Ponting told Star Sports. “Looking ahead to this season, we didn’t feel he would be part of our starting team, so we decided to release him,” he added.

The team also released Aaron Hardie, Kuldeep Sen and Praveen Dubey.

PBKS full squad ahead of IPL 2026 auction: Shreyas Iyer (c), Nehal Wadhera, Priyansh Arya, Shashank Singh, Pyla Avinash, Harnoor Pannu, Musheer Khan, Prabhsimran Singh, Vishnu Vinod, Marcus Stoinis, Marco Jansen, Azmahtullah Omarzai, Suryansh Shedge, Mitchell Owen, Arshdeep Singh, Vyshak Vijaykumar, Yash Thakur, Xavier Bartlett, Lockie Ferguson, Yuzvendra Chahal, Harpreet Brar.