Many were taken aback by Punjab Kings’ (PBKS) decision to cut Glenn Maxwell, Aaron Hardie, and Josh Inglis before the IPL 2026 auction, and head coach Ricky Ponting has explained the rationale for the audacious action. Ponting disclosed that Maxwell’s high worth, both in terms of purse impact and squad makeup, played a significant factor, even if the releases were mainly tactical and concentrated on restructuring abroad positions.
According to Ponting, it was essential to free up overseas slots before to the mini-auction on December 16 in order to give the team more freedom to assemble a well-rounded team. He went on to say that Hardie’s departure made sense because the IPL 2025 runners-up sought to reorganise their foreign department in order to target particular players at the auction.
In response to Inglis’ release, Ponting said the Australian batsman-wicketkeeper put up a number of significant performances for PBKS in the 2025 IPL season.
However, the decision to let him depart was driven by worries over his availability for the 2026 edition because of international obligations.
“Glenn Maxwell is the biggest name we are releasing this year. Glenn and I have been working together for a while. I adore him and his contributions to the game. We opted to let him go because, regrettably, we were unable to get the most out of him last year and we did not think he would be a member of our starting lineup. The other foreign all-rounder we are releasing is Aaron Hardie. Last year, he was never given the opportunity to play for us. We must open up abroad slots for the auction, even if it is difficult to let such people go. On the JioHotstar Retention Show, Ponting stated, “Unfortunately, Aaron Hardie is a release.”
Another is Josh Inglis. He gave us some excellent knocks during the tournament’s second half. He knew he wouldn’t be available for the majority of this year’s tournament and missed a few games for various reasons,” he continued.
Maxwell played in seven IPL 2025 games for PBKS, scoring a pitiful 8.00 average with just 48 runs. With just four wickets taken during the season, he had little effect with the ball either. On the other hand, Inglis had a much stronger season, amassing 278 runs from 11 innings with a strike rate of 162.57 and an average of 30.88.
The team decided to cut all three foreign players, as well as Indian players Kuldeep Sen and Praveen Dubey, despite Inglis’ contributions. With INR 11.50 crore left over after these departures, PBKS will enter the IPL 2026 mini-auction.
India
