Mullanpur (Punjab) [India], November 15 (ANI): The Indian Premier League outfit Punjab Kings have announced the retentions ahead of the 2026 IPL Auctions, releasing five players from last year's squad, including Australia all-rounder Glenn Maxwell.

While ensuring that the core of the team remains the same, PBKS released Maxwell, Kuldeep Sen, Josh Inglis, Aaron Hardie and Pravin Dube. While Maxwell played his third stint with the Kings last year, Kuldeep and Aaron didn't play any matches in the previous season, whereas Pravin was seen in action in only one match. Punjab will enter the auction with a salary cap of Rs 11.5 crore.

Maxwell, who arrived in Punjab for the first time in 2014 and produced flamboyant performances with the bat, notching scores of 95, 89 and 95, returned to the Kings last year after fetching a price of Rs 4.2 crore. Unlike his past stint, Maxwell chased the shadows of his past performances and accumulated 48 runs in six innings at a mere average of 8.00.

Punjab Kings head coach Ricky Ponting thanked the released players for their contributions to the team's run to the final for the first time since 2014. He vowed that PBKS will look to secure quality overseas players in the upcoming auction scheduled to be held on December 16.

'We had a great IPL season last year, and it happened because of every single player, and thus, I would like to first thank the released players for their contribution to the team. We will now be aggressively looking to secure high-quality overseas players in the auction,' Ponting said.

'Who perfectly plug the defined gaps in our middle-order power-hitting and all-rounder departments. This measured approach, centred on a settled core, is designed to build a deep, balanced squad capable of challenging for the IPL title,' he concluded.

Satish Menon, CEO of Punjab Kings, also commented on the retention and said, 'We thank all the released players for their commitment to the Punjab Kings family. Our paramount goal was retaining the strong Indian core of our squad, which is absolutely essential for long-term consistency.'

'By securing key performers like Captain Shreyas Iyer and spearhead Arshdeep Singh, we ensure stability in leadership. We will aim to execute a targeted strategy and focus on high-impact replacements,' Menon added.

Players Retained: Shreyas Iyer (c), Nehal Wadhera, Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh, Shashank Singh, Pyla Avinash, Harnoor Pannu, Musheer Khan, Vishnu Vinod, Marcus Stoinis, Azmatullah Omarzai, Suryansh Shedge, Mitchell Owen, Arshdeep Singh, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Yash Thakur, Xavier Bartlett, Lockie Ferguson, Yuzvendra Chahal, Harpreet Brar

Players Released: Glenn Maxwell, Josh Inglis, Aaron Hardie, Kuldeep Sen, Praveen Dube. (ANI)