Punjab Kings (PBKS) were one of the teams that had very limited activity in the recent Indian Premier League (IPL 2026) mini auction, having retained the bulk of the squad they had built in the mega-auction last time around. However, a big void they needed to fill was that of a wicketkeeper-batter, after being forced to let go of Josh Inglis, who had confirmed he would not be available for the whole of the next season due to his marriage.
When quizzed on the same lines, since Inglis was one of their top performers from last season and played a key role in helping the franchise qualify for their first IPL final in 11 years, PBKS owner Ness Wadia made an interesting revelation. Ness stated that the management was absolutely oblivious to Inglis’ marriage plans and had even considered him for a possible retention. Furthermore, he also blamed the Aussie for not letting know of his availability status beforehand, informing the franchise just 45 minutes before the retention deadline.
Speaking to The Hindu, Ness Wadia said, “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 available only for a couple of weeks (three games).
He added, “We told him he should have informed us earlier. I don’t think it was very professional of him. I don’t think it is very professional of anyone if they know there is a deadline. You can’t call someone 45 minutes before and say, “Hey, I’m not coming,” especially when he knew that we were retaining him.”
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Despite Inglis not promising full commitment, he found a suitor in Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), who splurged a whopping INR 8.6 crores to acquire his services. In fact, in the aftermath of the auction, LSG owner Sanjiv Goenka’s son Shashwat Goenka had confirmed that Inglis had given the go-ahead for the whole season via coach Justin Langer only for the Aussie to deny it later.
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