Top News

IPL 2026: Punjab Kings head coach Ricky Ponting spilled the beans on the franchise's decision to release star Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 mini-auction.

The deadline to release players for the IPL 2026 season was on Saturday, November 15.

Ahead of the IPL 2026, the Punjab Kings released only four players which including Glenn Maxwell, Josh Inglis, Aaron Hardie, and Kuldeep Sen.

Earlier in the 2025 edition of the IPL, Punjab Kings became the runners-up after conceding a six-run defeat against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the summit clash.

Ricky Ponting Reveals Why PBKS Released Maxwell

While speaking on Star Sports, Punjab Kings head coach Ricky Ponting explained why they released Maxwell, saying that the all-rounder failed to perform in the IPL 2025. He added that the team management felt the all-rounder would not be a part of the playing eleven in the upcoming edition of the IPL, hence they decided to release him.

“Love Glenn and what he brings to the game. Unfortunately, last year we weren’t able to get the best out of him. Looking ahead to this season, we didn’t feel he would be part of our starting team, so we decided to release him,” Ponting said as quoted by India Today.

Glenn Maxwell's Numbers In IPL

During the IPL 2025 mega-auction, the Punjab Kings roped in Glenn Maxwell for a whopping amount of Rs. 4.2 crore. In IPL 2025, the 37-year-old displayed a sluggish performance, scoring 48 runs from seven matches at a strike rate of 97.95 and an average of 8.00. He also picked up four wickets in IPL 2025 from six innings.

Glenn Maxwell is a known name in the IPL. He played 141 IPL matches and 135 innings, scoring 2819 runs at a strike rate of 155.14 and an average of 23.88. Maxwell also hammered 18 fifties in the cash-rich league.

The 37-year-old picked up 41 wickets from 85 innings in his IPL career.