Australia wicketkeeper-batter Josh Inglis, who was picked by Lucknow Super Giants for INR 8.6 crore at the recent IPL mini-auction, has confirmed that he will not be available for the entire 2026 season. Inglis said he would be getting married in early April, with IPL 2026 set to run from March 26 to May 31.
"Well, I sort of watched a lot of it [IPL auction] and I was pushed back in the pecking order," Inglis told ABC Sport. "I don't have full availability this year. I'm getting married in early April. So, I didn't really expect to go, to be honest. So I sort of saw my name go by unsold... the first one I was like 'alright stuff this, I'm going to bed' and I need to switch on for tomorrow [Ashes] and then woke up to the news. I didn't know until I'd seen a few messages this morning."
Though his former IPL coach at Punjab Kings, Ricky Ponting, had hinted at Inglis' partial availability after the franchise had released him, Inglis triggered a bidding war at the auction after initially going unsold. LSG eventually outbid Sunrisers Hyderabad and reunited Inglis with coach Justin Langer - the pair has previously worked together at Perth Scorchers in the Big Bash League (BBL).
PBKS co-owner Ness Wadia suggested that Inglis was among the players the franchise had been looking to keep for IPL 2026 until the player communicated his lack of full availability "45 minutes before the deadline."
"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," Wadia told The Hindu. "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].
"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.
"But I wish him all the best. He is a good player and I am sure he will do well for Australia. And let's see whether he plays in the IPL or not. I wish him all the best because he is a fellow human being. But, the manner in which he behaved was not very professional."
In his first IPL season, Inglis slotted in a disruptor in PBKS' line-up, scoring 278 runs in 11 innings at an average of 30.88 and strike rate of 162.57. The tally included a match-winning 73 off 42 balls from No.3 against a Jasprit-Bumrah-led Mumbai Indians attack in Jaipur. Overall, Inglis has scored 3853 runs in 152 T20 innings at an average of 29.86 and strike rate of just under 150.