5 Players PBKS Must Release Before IPL 2026

The Punjab Kings (PBKS) are at present in the third position of the points table and have qualified for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 playoffs along with the Gujarat Titans (GT) and the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB).

Punjab started the event with three victories in the first four group-stage encounters of the season before momentum in the middle half of the season, including four wins in six games, along with a washout result against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).

With the 10-run victory, PBKS has gone into the top four spot of the points table. Most of their batters and bowlers have lived up to the expectations with the performance and the purse. However, a few have not contributed much.

Here are the five players PBKS must release before the IPL 2026

1. Glenn Maxwell

In the ongoing 2025 season of the tournament, Glenn Maxwell came with so much expectation and flopped with the bat in every single game he was part of. Maxwell featured in six games for the franchise and clubbed just 48 runs at an average of eight and a strike rate of 97.95, with the best score of 30 runs.

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Whether the PBKS side is in a comfortable situation or not, Maxwell has struggled against both the pacers and spinners and has no clue. Releasing the veteran will add INR 4.20 crore to the purse of the side, who can go for a different player or rebuy the all-rounder.

2. Marcus Stoinis

The pace bowling all-rounder from Punjab, Marcus Stoinis, grabbed a huge purse of INR 11 crore. Stonis has contributed just 82 runs in this season in seven innings at a strike rate of 167 with the best score of 34* runs. With the ball, he bowled 11.4 overs and didn’t pick a single wicket.

Stoinis has been a decent all-rounder and a vital member of the franchise. However, in his absence, the Shreyas Iyer-led side will get a huge portion of the budget, and they can rebuy him in the auction.

3. Josh Inglis

The same story goes with the PBKS wicket-keeper, Josh Inglis, who has smacked 92 runs in six innings this year at an average of 23 and a strike rate of 139.39. Inglis, who celebrated his maiden Test century on his debut red-ball clash in Sri Lanka, had no idea of facing the spinners.

Inglis played the wrong line of the spinners in most of the games. And leaving the right-handed batter will add more money to the purse of franchise, which can then go for a few other players.

4. Lockie Ferguson

The aggressive 33-year-old fast bowler, Lockie Ferguson, has the sheer pace and aggression to trouble the batters in the middle overs of the innings. In four innings, the right-arm pacer picked up five wickets this season at an economy rate of 9.17 before getting ruled out of the competition.

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Ferguson earned INR 2.80 crore in the last season from the auction, but his injury-prone status has been an issue and can push the PBKS management to leave him before the IPL 2026.

5. Aaron Hardie

Aaron Hardie, the tall pace bowling all-rounder from Australia, is the future star for the nation, and PBKS got him in the last auction.

But their head coach, Ricky Ponting, didn’t add him to any of the playing eleven, which is an indicator of the franchise perhaps leaving the 26-year-old before the 2026 season of the Indian Premier League (IPL).