Third time lucky for Inglis as he chases Cup debut

Many will be viewing the remaining two matches of the India v Australia ODI series as purely warm-up matches but for Josh Inglis there's plenty to play for. 

The West Australian wicketkeeper was the Aussies' second-highest scorer in Friday's first one-dayer with a run-a-ball 45 and believes that with a strong finish to the series he could make himself undroppable for the World Cup opener against India in Chennai on October 8. 

Named in Australia's World Cup squad for the third consecutive time (by including those of the T20 variety), the 28-year-old is still waiting to make his Cup debut. 

Then uncapped in internationals, Inglis was selected in the 15 for the 2021 T20 World Cup in the UAE but didn't feature as Australia lifted the trophy. He was then named in the subsequent 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia but had to withdraw on the eve of the tournament due to a golfing injury.

And although a wicketkeeper by trade, Inglis knows his best shot of playing in the upcoming tournament won't be with the gloves but as a specialist batter.

Only twice has he kept wicket in his seven ODIs to date, one of which was on Friday in Mohali with first-choice gloveman Alex Carey rested. 

And with the varied returns of Australia's middle-order across the previous four one-dayers, playing both Inglis and Carey in tandem could come into the selectors' thinking. 

That was a ploy Australia used during the seven-match ODI series against India in 2007 when Brad Haddin played as a specialist batter in four of the matches with Adam Gilchrist taking the gloves. Haddin, then 29-years-old and relatively fresh on the international scene, scored 200 runs at 66.67 as Australia won the series 4-2.

Inglis says he is hopeful shedding the 'back-up keeper' tag by playing a role at the World Cup and is prepared to ditch the gloves if required.

"In the past I have played as just purely a batsman as well and I quite enjoy my fielding, so there's no issues with that at all," Inglis told reporters following Australia's five-wicket loss at IS Bindra Stadium. 

"I'm just trying to play some cricket, string some games together and put some performances on the board.

"Make them (the selectors) have to pick me almost."

Inglis is coming off a strong Marsh Cup campaign last summer for champions WA where he scored one century and two half-centuries in his five innings.

Of the 11 batters who scored at least 250 runs in the competition, Inglis had the highest strike rate overall (127.4) and the second-best strike rate against spin (133.3). 

He has seen his international performances improve too with the recent opportunities in South Africa earlier this month, playing all three T20s and three ODIs. 

In the second ODI, he struck a maiden half-century off only 36 balls, building on a strong platform set by centurions David Warner and Marnus Labuschagne.

Inglis' versatility is also a factor that will be considered as the right-hander has shown the ability to bat throughout the order in white-ball cricket.

But across his 35 List A matches, No.5 has been his strongest spot with an average of 42.88 and a strike rate of 128, which was the position occupied by Carey during Australia last three ODIs in South Africa.

2023 Qantas Tour of India

September 22: India win by five wickets

September 24: Second ODI, Indore (D/N), 6pm AEST

September 27: Third ODI, Rajkot (D/N), 6pm AEST

Australia ODI squad: Pat Cummins (c), Sean Abbott, Alex Carey, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Aaron Hardie, Josh Hazlewood, Josh Inglis, Spencer Johnson, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Tanveer Sangha, Matt Short, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner, Adam Zampa

India squad for first two ODIs: KL Rahul (c), Ravindra Jadeja, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Ishan Kishan , Shardul Thakur, Washington Sundar, R Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna

India squad for the third ODI: Rohit Sharma (c), Hardik Pandya, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, R Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj