Australian batter Josh Inglis was said to be available for only four IPL matches. However, reportedly, he could play more games after securing a hefty bid from Lucknow Super Giants in the recently concluded IPL Auction in Abu Dhabi. This triggered an uneasiness within the Punjab Kings camp, who released Inglis before the auction due to his limited availability. One thing to note here is that the Punjab camp was eager to retain the talent.
Before the mini-auction for the 2026 IPL, the BCCI communicated to all franchises that Josh Inglis will be available for four matches in IPL 2026 because of his marriage. Now, it is reported that the BCCI and IPL governing council are closely monitoring the situation. It is believed that Inglis might alter his personal schedule for IPL commitments.
In this year’s auction, the Lucknow Super Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad went on a bidding war to acquire the services of Josh Inglis. The Lucknow Super Giants acquired him for INR 8.6 crore. This was 6 crore higher than his last deal with the Punjab Kings. This incident triggered a discussion on whether Inglis took advantage of the situation. BCCI and IPL governing council may have to take a look at it.
“The communication was clear, but we need to check whether anything has changed about his personal plans, or whether those teams knew about his personal plans much more than others,” a source close to the developments told PTI.
The source also mentioned that the Punjab Kings are yet to raise an official complaint. Earlier, it was reported that Inglis was set to get married on April 18, followed by a honeymoon holiday. It would’ve meant that he would miss out on a large part of the IPL 2026. IPL 2026 begins on March 26.
Both teams that bid on Inglis have a heavy Australian presence in their management roles. So, it is possible that they knew more about his plans than anyone else.
Inglis talked to ABC Sport and said that he got to know about his IPL contract much after the auction was finished.
“I don’t have full availability this year. I’m getting married in early April. So, I didn’t really expect to go. So, I sort of saw my name go by unsold.
“I was like ‘alright stuff this, I’m going to bed’ and I need to switch on for tomorrow and then woke up to the news. I didn’t know until I’d seen a few messages this morning,” he told ABC Sport after the second day of the Adelaide Test.
