Punjab Kings head coach Ricky Ponting has given clarification on the decision of the franchise and management. glen maxwell Being released from the team before the 2026 Indian Premier League. Maxwell, who was once highly sought after, was in the list of six players released by PBKS. Maxwell's return to PBKS in 2025 was not a pleasant one. He scored only 48 runs in six innings at a strike rate of 97.95.
One of Maxwell's six innings in the last IPL included 30 runs, making his total slightly better than it could have been. PBKS snatched the services of the batting all-rounder for Rs 4.2 crore in the mega auction ahead of IPL 2025. Ponting was candid in admitting that the think tank did not feel he could fit into a top Australian XI, which became the main reason for looking past him.
“We love Glenn and what he brings to the game. Unfortunately, last year we weren't able to get the best out of him. Looking at this season, we didn't feel he would be a part of our starting team, so we decided to release him,” Ponting said while speaking to Star Sports after the retention announcement on Saturday.
The 2025 season marks the return of the Australian all-rounder to the PBKS set-up after four years with Royal Challengers Bangalore. The 2020 installment was actually Maxwell's second stint with the Punjab-based franchise. Even at that time, his performance was very poor and he was able to score only 108 runs in 11 innings.
Maxwell was at his best in his debut season for PBKS in 2014. He scored a remarkable 187.75 while playing 16 matches. Incidentally, that was also PBKS's first season to reach the IPL final. They reached the summit clash again 11 years later, in 2025.
Other players released along with Maxwell include Josh Inglis, Aaron Hardie, Kuldeep Sen and Praveen Dubey. In the mini-auction to be held next month around December 16, PBKS have a purse of Rs 11.5 crore with four slots remaining. It will be interesting to see which franchise goes after Maxwell, and whether he even attracts any bids.
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