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Aussie cricket star Josh Inglis has revealed he won't be available for the entire IPL season because he'll be getting married in April. Inglis was snapped up by Justin Langer's Lucknow Super Giants for $1.4 million in Tuesday night's IPL auction, even though Lucknow are aware he won't be available for the entire tournament.
"I sort of watched a lot of it (the IPL auction) and I was pushed back in the pecking order," Inglis told ABC radio during the third Ashes Test in Adelaide. "I don't have full availability this year. I'm getting married in early April. So, I didn't really expect to go, to be honest.
"I sort of saw my name go by unsold…the first one (round) I was like 'alright stuff this, I'm going to bed' and I need to switch on for tomorrow (for the Ashes), and then woke up to the news. I didn't know until I'd seen a few messages this morning."
Inglis was previously with Ricky Ponting's Punjab Kings, but wasn't retained when he informed the franchise he wouldn't be available for the full season in 2026. Ponting had publicly stated that Inglis wasn't retained for that fact, but the Sunrisers Hyderabad were still interested in his services and were in a bidding war with Lucknow.
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It came amid extraordinary suggestions from Punjab co-owner Ness Wadia that Inglis acted "unprofessionally" by not informing them earlier of not being available for the full season. As reported by ESPNcricinfo and a number of outlets, Wadia claimed Inglis only told the team about his wedding "45 minutes" before the deadline for franchises to retain or release players.
"We didn't really let go of Josh. I mean, Josh unfortunately, sadly, only told us at the last minute, which was not very fair given that he had been with us for a while," Wadia said.
"I think everyone knew when the retention was coming, and we were informed by him 45 minutes before the deadline that he was getting married and needed time to relax and recuperate. He said he was going to be available only for a couple of weeks [three games].
"We told him he should have informed us earlier. I don't think it was very professional of him. I don't think it is very professional of anyone if they know there is a deadline. You can't call someone 45 minutes before and say, 'Hey, I'm not coming,' especially when he knew that we were retaining him.
"But I wish him all the best. He is a good player and I am sure he will do well for Australia. And let's see whether he plays in the IPL or not. I wish him all the best because he is a fellow human being. But, the manner in which he behaved was not very professional."
Inglis scored 278 runs in 11 games for Punjab last season at an average of 30.89 and strike rate of 162.57. "Josh is a terrific player. I would have loved to have had him as part of our squad going forward," Ponting added last month. "But… he wasn't going to be available for the majority of the tournament. So for that reason, I found it pretty much impossible to be able to be able to retain him."
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