Josh Inglis Conundrum Sparks Massive Controversy, Punjab Kings To Approach BCCI After LSG Snap Australian Star At IPL Auction: Report

Josh Inglis played a pivotal role on Punjab Kings' road to the IPL 2025 final. The Shreyas Iyer-led PBKS went on to lose the final by six runs as RCB lifted their maiden IPL title in Ahmedabad.

Josh Inglis Conundrum For Punjab Kings?

Inglis remains one of the most reliable batters in the shortest format, and his explosive batting prowess helped PBKS to cover their bases. He smashed 278 runs in 11 matches last season, but everyone was surprised Punjanb not retain the Aussie star ahead of the auction.

later PBKS coach Ricky Ponting revealed that Inglis would not be available due to his prior commitments. “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.”

Will Josh Inglis Prominently Feature In IPL 2026?

Despite him not being available for most of the season, both Sunrisers Hyderabad and Lucknow Super Giants went ahead with an aggressive bidding in Abu Dhabi. LSG finally secured his service with an INR 8.6 crore bid, but the bigger question emerged after that. Will Inglis be available for most of the season?

As per Cricbuzz, the Australian might just feature in the IPL for a longer period than he was supposed to. The cricketer conveyed to PBKS that he is getting married and won't be available barring a few matches. After receiving the communication from him, Punjab released him ahead of the IPL retention. But after LSG bought him, the IPL 2025 runners-up are planning to approach the BCCI regarding this matter, as per Cricbuzz.

Varun Aaron, Hyderabad's bowling coach, hinted that Daniel Vettori's relationship with Inglis might prompt the player to delay his honeymoon. “Look, he obviously was going to be out for personal reasons. And that's always subject to change. You never know - people can make different decisions once the auction is done. So, we thought that with the relationship Dan and him have, he could maybe convince him to play a few extra games. And that's where it came from.”

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The report also revealed that LSG's Justin Langer and Tom Moody (coach and director of LSG), and SRH's Daniel Vettori and Pat Cummins (coach and captain of SRH) might have more information than Ponting. 

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