‘Above my pay grade’ - Josh Inglis on tight schedule, player unavailability for Pakistan T20Is

Australia’s Test players left the squad after the second ODI against Pakistan and will be unavailable for the T20I series as well. Josh Inglis has been announced captain in Mitchell Marsh’s absence, and he has recently opened up on the tough schedule, as by the end of the three-match T20I series, some of the players will complete six flights in less than 13 days. 

Meanwhile, the hosts lost the three-match ODI series 2-1 and are under immense pressure ahead of the T20Is, especially when some of their key players are missing. However, Inglis isn’t ready to accept that they are about the field the ‘B team’ and addressed the tight schedule. He highlighted that many teams face this problem and added that he doesn’t get to decide these things.

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“I don’t think it’s very fair to say that, but we know how challenging the schedule is. There’s always series overlapping where players are used (in different) formats. There are decisions to be made. That’s above my pay grade, thankfully,” Inglis was quoted as saying by Yahoo Sports.

Batting group didn’t score enough runs in third ODI: Inglis

Inglis also captained in the third ODI against Pakistan, as Pat Cummins missed out. The batting unit completely flopped as Australia were bundled for 140 runs in the first innings. Pakistan secured an eight-wicket win and also the series. Talking about the same, Inglis noted that the team doesn’t have the habit of losing by big margins, and he hopes to rectify the mistake in the T20I series, slated to begin on November 14.

“There were big losses, and typically not something that we’re very used to. You’ve got to be honest, that batting group didn’t score enough runs and that’s on us to rectify that this week,” Inglis said.