Australian wicketkeeper-batter Josh Inglis has officially confirmed his limited availability for IPL 2026 ahead of the December 16 mini-auction in Abu Dhabi. His decision comes just weeks after Punjab Kings released him, despite a strong 2025 season. The Australian has confirmed he would be available for just four matches in the new season.
A total of 1,355 players have registered for the IPL 2026 Auction, with five of them, including Inglis, informing the BCCI about restricted availability. Ashton Agar, William Sutherland, Adam Milne, and Rilee Rossouw have also cited partial participation due to international commitments and personal reasons. Inglis, currently involved in the Ashes Test at the Gabba, told the BCCI that he would be available for only 25% of the season, which measures to around two weeks or four games. Despite this limitation, the 30-year-old has listed himself at a base price of INR 2 crore.
Inglis’s limited availability comes due to his wedding scheduled during the IPL window. This directly led to the Punjab Kings’ last-minute decision to release him on the final day of the retention deadline. PBKS, who retained 21 players from their 2025 runner-up squad, were initially keen to continue with Inglis. However, head coach Ricky Ponting confirmed that retaining a player unavailable for most of the season became illogical.
Ponting clarified why Inglis was released
In IPL 2025, the Aussie featured in 11 games, scoring 278 runs at an average of 30.88 and a striking rate of 162.57. His best performance came in Punjab’s last league match, where he hammered a 73 off 42 balls against the Mumbai Indians, helping his team secure a top-two spot. He followed it up with a solid innings in Qualifier 2, taking on Jasprit Bumrah and scoring 20 runs off a single over.
Ponting clarified that while Inglis is a terrific player, retaining someone who could contribute only briefly didn’t match their tournament plans. The franchise also released Glenn Maxwell, Aaron Hardie, Kuldeep Sen, and Praveen Dubey.
“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.
