IPL 2026 Auction: Why has Punjab Kings released Glenn Maxwell and Josh Inglis? Ricky Ponting Explains

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Punjab Kings announced their retention list ahead of the IPL 2026 auction, releasing only five players from the last season.

The franchise retained its strong Indian core, while releasing five players - Glenn Maxwell, Josh Inglis, Aaron Hardie, Kuldeep Sen, and Pravin Dube.

Following the announcement of the Punjab Kings' player retentions ahead of the TATA IPL 2025 auction, Head Coach Ricky Ponting reflected on the difficult but necessary process of finalizing the squad.

Addressing the decision regarding the release of one of the most high-profile players, Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell, Ponting detailed the thought process behind the move.

"I've worked with Glenn for a long time. I love Glenn and what he brings to the game. Unfortunately, last year we weren't able to get the best out of him. And looking forward to this season, we didn't feel that he was going to be part of our starting team. So we've decided to release Glenn," Ponting said.

While Inglis was released because of his unavailability for the tournament, the team also made strategic decisions on other overseas players to open up options for the upcoming auction.

"Josh Inglis is the other one who played some great knocks for us in the back half of the tournament...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 retain him," Ponting explained.

Regarding all-rounder Aaron Hardie, Ponting added, "He never got an opportunity to play with us last year. He worked hard. He's a great guy but we need to open up some overseas slots going forward into this auction. So, unfortunately, we had to release Aaron."

Discussing the team's targeted strategy for the upcoming auctions, the head coach said, "We got the auction pretty much right last year. So we only released five players this year. And we'll go into the auction with a nice little kitty of money that might just give us enough money to fill the gaps that we've opened up this season."