The Punjab Kings (PBKS) surprised fans and analysts with their decision to release Australian wicketkeeper-batter Josh Inglis. PBKS relied on the wicketkeeper and his teammates during IPL 2025 as they raced to a playoffs and finals spot. However, PBKS head coach Ricky Ponting revealed that Inglis will not be a part of his team’s plans in 2026.
“Josh Inglis is another one who played some great knocks for us in the back half of the tournament,” he said.
“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 coach added.
Josh Inglis IPL 2025 Performance
Inglis had a breakthrough season as one of few debutants on the PBKS roster. The skilled wicketkeeper displayed class throughout each game and ended his campaign on a high with 278 runs off 171 balls in 2025.
Inglis’ 162.5 strike rate and decent performances contributed to the Mohali-based franchise’s charge in a historic IPL run.
| Year | Mat | No | Runs | HS | Bat Avg | BF | SR | 100 | 50 | 4s | 6s | Ct | St |
| 2025 | 11 | 2 | 278 | 73 | 30.89 | 171 | 162.57 | 0 | 1 | 26 | 16 | 9 | 1 |
Inglis showed hitting prowess with the bat early on in 2025 with a 29 off 17 balls against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). Other notable performances from the star wicketkeeper include:
- 11 runs from 6 balls vs Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR),
- 6 runs from 6 balls vs Chennai Super Kings (CSK),
- 30 runs from 14 balls against the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG),
- 32 runs off 12 balls vs Delhi Capitals (DC),
- 73 runs (highest score) from 42 balls vs Mumbai Indians (MI),
Inglis was also in top form throughout PBKS’ playoff matches. The skilled cricketer smashed home 81 runs in 3 playoff games (including final) to register one of IPL cricket’s top debut performances from a wicketkeeper in recent years.
Ricky Ponting Speaks on Letting Glenn Maxwell Go
The PBKS coach also shed more light on his team’s choice to let Australian cricketer Glenn Maxwell leave. Maxwell is one of the veteran overseas players in IPL history after featuring for various franchises across 13 seasons. Ponting believes Maxwell will not be a part of his starting squad next season even if he loves the player’s input:
“Love Glenn and what he brings to the game. Unfortunately, last year we weren’t able to get the best out of him,” the coach said while responding to questions. “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.
Glenn Maxwell IPL Performance So Far (2012 – 2025)
| Year | Mat | No | Runs | HS | Ave | BF | SR (bat) | Wkt | BBM | Bowl Ave | Econ | SR (bowl) |
| 2012 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 3 | 6.00 | 11 | 54.55 | 1 | 1/10 | 22.00 | 7.33 | 18.00 |
| 2013 | 3 | 2 | 36 | 23 | 18.0 | 27 | 133.33 | 0 | 0/5 | – | 11.50 | – |
| 2014 | 16 | 0 | 552 | 95 | 34.5 | 294 | 187.76 | 1 | 1/21 | 132.00 | 12.00 | 66.00 |
| 2015 | 11 | 0 | 145 | 43 | 13.1 | 112 | 129.46 | 2 | 1/5 | 48.50 | 9.70 | 30.00 |
| 2016 | 11 | 2 | 179 | 68 | 19.8 | 124 | 144.35 | 0 | 0/3 | – | 8.88 | – |
| 2017 | 14 | 3 | 310 | 47 | 31.0 | 179 | 173.18 | 7 | 2/15 | 17.85 | 6.57 | 16.28 |
| 2018 | 12 | 0 | 169 | 47 | 14.0 | 120 | 140.83 | 5 | 2/22 | 26.40 | 8.25 | 19.20 |
| 2020 | 13 | 4 | 108 | 32 | 15.4 | 106 | 101.89 | 3 | 1/10 | 56.33 | 8.05 | 42.00 |
| 2021 | 15 | 2 | 513 | 78 | 42.7 | 356 | 144.10 | 3 | 2/23 | 45.00 | 8.44 | 32.00 |
| 2022 | 13 | 2 | 301 | 55 | 27.3 | 178 | 169.10 | 6 | 2/22 | 27.50 | 6.88 | 24.00 |
| 2023 | 14 | 2 | 400 | 77 | 33.3 | 218 | 183.49 | 3 | 1/3 | 31.33 | 9.10 | 20.67 |
| 2024 | 10 | 0 | 52 | 28 | 5.7 | 43 | 120.93 | 6 | 2/23 | 21.50 | 8.06 | 16.00 |
| 2025 | 7 | 0 | 48 | 30 | 8.0 | 49 | 97.96 | 4 | 1/5 | 27.50 | 8.46 | 19.50 |
List of Retained/Released Players from PBKS before IPL 2026 Auction
PBKS retained more players than any other franchise ahead of the next auction; however, there was no room for Maxwell and Inglis in their plans. The franchise kept 21 players and released 5 cricketers from their squad list. See the full retained/released PBKS player list by position below:
Retained
Batters: Prabhsimran Singh, Priyansh Arya, Shreyas Iyer, Shashank Singh, Nehal Wadhera, Musheer Khan, Pyala Avinash, Harnoor Pannu, Suryansh Shedge, Vishnu Vinod
All-rounders: Marcus Stoinis, Azmatullah Omarzai, Marco Jansen
Bowlers: Harpreet Brar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Mitchell Owen, Xavier Bartlett, Lockie Ferguson, Vyshak Vijaykumar, Yash Thakur
Released
Batters: Glenn Maxwell, Josh Inglis, Aaron Hardie
Bowlers: Kuldeep Sen, Pravin Dube
