Australia's Josh Inglis has confirmed that he will not be fully available for the 2026 instalment of the Indian Premier League due to his own marriage. Inglis was roped in by Lucknow Super Giants for a massive price tag of INR 8.60 crore at the mini auction which took place at the Etihad Arena, Abu Dhabi on Tuesday, December 16.
The 2026 season of the cash-rich tournament will be played between March 26 and May 31. However, Inglis has said that due to his marriage taking place in April, he will not
be able to take part in the majority of the season for the Rishabh Pant-led side. The cricketer himself was surprised to see himself get sold for an impressive salary, despite intimating that he won't be available to play in full.
"Well, I sort of watched a lot of it [IPL auction] and I was pushed back in the pecking order. I don't have full availability this year. I'm getting married in early April. I didn't really expect to go, to be honest. I sort of saw my name go by unsold. The first one I was like 'alright stuff this, I'm going to bed' and I need to switch on for tomorrow [3rd Ashes 2025-26 Test] and then woke up to the news. I didn't know until I'd seen a few messages this morning," Inglis told ABC Sport.
Meanwhile, Punjab Kings' co-owner Ness Wadia dropped a bombshell that they had initially planned on retaining the cricketer. However, they decided on releasing him into the auction pool a few minutes prior to the retention deadline. Inglis' debut IPL 2025 with Punjab was a hit as he scored 278 runs in 11 games at a strike rate of 162.57, but due to personal reasons, the runners-up from 2025 did not retain himIPL 2026: Josh Inglis confirms wedding commitments will hamper stint with LSG.
Former head coach of PBKS Ricky Ponting had previously hinted to the franchise in relation to Inglis' partial availability. The wicketkeeper-batter had initially gone unsold in the initial round. Sunrisers Hyderabad and LSG were involved in a bidding war. LSG eventually outbid the 2016 champions. Inglis will reunite with Justin Langer. The duo has previously worked together as coach and player during their shared time at Perth Scorchers at the Big Bash League.
