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Ricky Ponting explains shocking Maxwell, Josh Inglis releases ahead of IPL 2026 auction

Soumyajit Dutta

Glenn Maxwell and Ricky Ponting [Source: @tabraiz_tabahi/X]Glenn Maxwell and Ricky Ponting [Source: @tabraiz_tabahi/X]

Punjab Kings released names like Glenn Maxwell, Aaron Hardie, and Josh Inglis ahead of the IPL 2026 auction, which came as a surprise for many, and head coach Ricky Ponting explained the reason behind the massive decision. 

While the move has been tactical, managing the overseas and local player slots, Ponting noted that Maxwell was slightly high-value with the purse as well as the bench space, given his usefulness in the playing XI for next year's IPL.

Ponting justifies Maxwell, Inglis snub for IPL 2026

Speaking on JioStars Retention Show, Ricky Ponting explained that the three foreign stars were released to free up the overseas slots ahead of the mini-auction on December 16.

"The biggest name we are releasing this year is Glenn Maxwell. I have worked with Glenn a long time. I love him and what he brings to the game. Unfortunately, last year we could not get the best out of him, and looking ahead we did not feel he would be in our starting team, so we decided to release him. Aaron Hardie is the other overseas all-rounder we are releasing. He never got a chance to play for us last year. It is hard to let such players go, but we need to open up overseas slots for the auction. Unfortunately, Aaron Hardie is a release," Ponting said.

While explaining Maxwell and Aaron Hardie's omission from the squad, Ponting also noted the snub of Josh Inglis despite the Australian playing some valuable knocks for the team in IPL 2025, raising issues on his availability for the 2026 edition.

"Josh Inglis is another one. He played some great knocks for us in the second half of the tournament. He missed a few games for different reasons and was also aware he would not be available for most of the tournament this year," the coach said.

A quick look at Maxwell and Inglis’ performance in IPL 2025

Glenn Maxwell was disappointing with the bat and the ball in the previous season. With the bat, Maxwell appeared in 7 matches and scored only 48 runs from them with a disappointing average of 8.00. With the ball too, he was not super impressive since he scalped only 4 wickets while having a high economy rate of 8.46. 

Josh Inglis, however, was a decent performer for Punjab Kings, with him being responsible for often getting a solid total on board or getting the pressure off while chasing a good total. Inglis scored 278 runs from 11 innings for Punjab in 2025 while averaging 30.88 at a strike rate of 162.57.

With the release of the three overseas players, Punjab also let go of Kuldeep Sen and Praveen Dubey and will enter the auction with a purse of INR 11.50 crore to fill up their squad for the next edition.