5 Players PBKS might release ahead of IPL 2026 auction

Punjab Kings head into the IPL 2026 auction with decisions to make. They had a brilliant last season where they headed into the finals but could not finish the line. Hence, they will be looking for some changes in the team to breach it this time around. Sometimes you release a good player because keeping him blocks a more-needed upgrade. Here are five players PBKS might realistically release.

1. Glenn Maxwell

Maxwell’s pedigree as a match-finisher is unquestioned, but IPL 2025 was brutal for him. He managed just 48 runs in six innings before a finger injury ended his campaign and forced PBKS to move on. That combination of poor returns plus an injury that ruled him out of the back half of the season makes him an auction candidate. 

Maxwell still commands a strong market price, so releasing him buys purse space while preserving the chance to chase him back cheaper or replace him with a fully available overseas batter or actual serving all-rounder of the game.

2. Marcus Stoinis

Stoinis showed flashes in 2025 of a few late-innings finishes and the kind of power-hitting that wins games, but he was used sparingly and only intermittently bowled. He played a total of 13 matches in the season but failed to make an impact in almost any, with the bat as well as the ball. 

Stoinis is valuable at auction, so releasing him could be a deliberate play to convert a usable asset into targeted reinforcements of an overseas specialist or extra Indian depth. Teams generally look for more consistent middle-over firepower than Stoinis delivered across the campaign.

3. Lockie Ferguson

Ferguson brings top-end speed and the ability to rattle batters, but he’s also had spells when he leaked runs and wasn’t always available across the season. PBKS bought him to bulk up the pace unit, but in practice, his role overlapped with that of other quicks, and he played intermittently. 

For a side that needs to manage four overseas spots each match, keeping multiple overseas quicks with similar skill sets is inefficient. Cutting Ferguson frees an overseas slot and funds that could be used to buy a different kind of overseas match-winner (a frontline death specialist or an impact batter). His injury-prone body adds to the con of keeping him in the team.

4. Aaron Hardie

Hardie is a useful batting allrounder with tidy T20 numbers and franchise experience. PBKS paid a modest fee to acquire him, and he provided rotation options in the middle order. But teams often prefer to hold only one or two such all-rounders when purse space is scarce. 

Keeping Hardie would block a domestic slot better used for a specialist middle-order batter or a domestic pace option, as the squad already has a plethora of all-rounders. Given his auction value, PBKS could deliberately release Hardie to free up money and then buy a role-specific player who addresses an obvious gap.

5. Yash Thakur

Thakur has shown he can take wickets in bursts and has a clear domestic pedigree, but PBKS used him in a rotational capacity in 2025. When a team already has several Indian pace options, a seam bowler who offers occasional overs but not consistent strike often becomes expendable, especially if releasing him lets the franchise spend on a specialist death bowler or a higher-upside young batter. He was used in just two matches, where he scalped one wicket with an economy of more than 12.

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