Ricky Ponting names Josh Inglis as a contender for Australia’s T20I wicketkeeping role

Australia seems to be building an intimidating squad for the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup, scheduled in India later this year in October and November. However, one of the biggest challenges for the team management and captain ahead of the marquee event will be the selection of a potential wicketkeeper-batsman. Australia haven’t found answers to who will be the first-choice keeper for the team in the T20I format of the game.

In the recent past, the Kangaroos have tried as many as three options for the keeping slot. Alex Carey seemed to be the right fit for the side but he was dropped in September 2020 owing to his poor performance with the willow. The exclusion of Carey paved the way for Matthew Wade but he also failed to cement his place.

Earlier this year, the Men in Yellow gave the debut T20I cap to the young Josh Philippe after his stunning performance in the 2020-21 edition of the Big Bash League. Josh played in the five-match away T20I series against the Kiwis and functioned as a specialist top-order batsman. The young rookie was decent with the bat and will be hoping for a longer stint with the team.

Australia are next scheduled to tour West Indies and Bangladesh for a limited-overs series. For the same, the selection committee has named all the three potential keepers including the likes of Carey, Wade, and Josh. However, the 23-member squad announced by the selectors will be further chopped out to a smaller team.

The keeper-batsman is probably the slot they’d be losing the most sleep over right now: Ricky Ponting

Meanwhile, former Australian captain Ricky Ponting put forward his views on the issue saying that Australia needs to solve their keeper issue at the earliest to have a settled squad ahead of the T20 World Cup. While the veteran named Alex, Matthew, and Philippe as the potential keepers, he added one more name to the list in the form of Josh Inglis.

“The keeper-batsman is probably the slot they’d be losing the most sleep over right now. They’ve still got some questions to answer as far as what their overall squad looks like and I think the biggest one is, ‘Who is going to be standing behind the stumps with the gloves on?’” Ricky Ponting told cricket.com.au.

“They have tried a few blokes – Wade has been there, Phillipe has just played as a batter, Alex Carey has been in and out and tried in a few different batting spots. Josh Inglis’s name could be thrown into the ring as well – I really liked what I saw from him batting in the middle order in last summer’s BBL,” the former skipper concluded.