Punjab Kings Owner Calls for Boards to Align on Overseas IPL Availability

Overview

• On Sunday, May 24 Mohit Burman publicly urged the BCCI, foreign boards, franchises and players to coordinate schedules and provide clearer availability commitments for the full IPL window.
• Franchises point to recent cases in IPL 2026 where Cricket Australia cleared Mitchell Starc only for the second half of the tournament while Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood missed the start because of workload management and injury concerns.
• Punjab Kings released wicketkeeper-batter Josh Inglis before the season after he was made available only for the latter half, a decision that franchises say shows how staggered releases upend squad planning.
• The BCCI enforces a two-year ban on overseas players who withdraw after being bought at auction except for genuine injuries, but team owners say that penalty does not address national boards’ staged clearances for medical or scheduling reasons.
• Franchises say clearer, jointly agreed release windows would protect heavy auction investments, reduce disruption to match plans and meet fan expectations, and the next developments to watch are any cross-board talks or formal BCCI policy responses.