'Would have loved to have had him...': Ricky Ponting explains why PBKS released Glenn Maxwell and Josh Inglis ahead of IPL 2026 auction

Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 finalists, Punjab Kings (PBKS), have released five players before the mini auction of the 19th edition of the cash-rich league, which will take place later this year in December. Among the released players, two massive releases are star wicketkeeper Josh Inglis and stylish batter Glenn Maxwell.

Their release, Inglis, was the most surprising one because, considering his performance, it was a big surprise for the fans. Notably, he had a strong IPL season, amassing 278 runs in 11 games at an impressive strike rate of 162.57, with a highest score of 73. He was the key middle-order, particularly in the second half of the season.

Why Punjab Kings release Josh Inglis?

After the franchise announced their released list, head coach Ricky Ponting revealed the Punjab-based franchise have parted ways with Inglis because he will not be available for the upcoming edition of the tournament.

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"Josh is a terrific player. I would have loved to have had him as part of our squad going forward. But this year, 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.

Why Punjab Kings parted ways with Glenn Maxwell?

Ponting said that the franchise was unable to get the best out of Maxwell in the last edition of the tournament, so considering that the franchise decided to release him.

"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," Ponting added.

Maxwell had a forgetful outing in the last edition of the tournament. He played seven games in IPL 2025 before sustaining a fractured finger midway through the season. He scored only 48 runs in six innings, including single-digit scores in each of his last four games, with a best of 30 and picked up four wickets.

List of players released by PBKS

Josh Inglis, Glenn Maxwell, Aaron Hardie, Kuldeep Sen and Praveen Dubey

List of players retained by PBKS

Prabhsimran Singh, Priyansh Arya, Shreyas Iyer, Shashank Singh, Nehal Wadhera, Marcus Stoinis, Azmatullah Omarzai, Marco Jansen, Harpreet Brar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Musheer Khan, Pyala Avinash, Harnoor Pannu, Suryansh Shedge, Mitchell Owen, Xavier Bartlett, Lockie Ferguson, Vyshak Vijaykumar, Yash Thakur, Vishnu Vinod.