Punjab Kings (PBKS) were one of the franchises that had next to no action during the recent mini auction of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2026), as they kept nearly their entire squad that they had acquired in the mega auction last season. Nevertheless, the most glaring gap they had to fill was that of a wicketkeeper-batter because they had to part ways with Josh Inglis, who made it clear he would not be around for the entire next season due to his marriage.
When asked the same question, PBKS owner Ness Wadia made an unusual disclosure as Inglis was one of the franchise’s top scorers last season and played prominently in the team’s qualifying for their first IPL final in 11 years. Ness pointed out that the management was completely oblivious to Inglis’ marriage plans and had even thought of him for a possible retention. Moreover, he also accused the Aussie of not informing the franchise of his availability status earlier, as he only let them know 45 minutes before the retention deadline.
In an interview with The Hindu, Ness Wadia stated, “We didn’t really let go of Josh. I mean, Josh, unfortunately, sadly, only told us at the last minute, which was not very fair given that he had been with us for a while. I think everyone knew when the retention was coming, and we were informed by him 45 minutes before the deadline that he was getting married and needed time to relax and recuperate. He said he was going to be only a couple of weeks (three games) available.
He continued, “We told him that he should have informed us sooner. I don’t think it was very professional of him. I don’t think it is very professional for anyone to act that way if they know there is a deadline. You cannot call someone 45 minutes before and say, “Hey, I’m not coming,” especially when he knew that we were retaining him.”
Josh Inglis presents his availability report for IPL 2026 season
Even though Inglis wasn’t saying he would be available completely, he still got the attention of Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), who paid an exorbitant INR 8.6 crores for his services. In truth, after the auction, LSG’s owner Sanjiv Goenka’s son Shashwat Goenka had stated that Inglis had through coach Justin Langer given the permission for the entire season only for the Aussie to deny it later on.
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