Josh Inglis will temporarily captain Australia in the white-ball series against Pakistan as Test players prepare to miss the final ODI and T20I series ahead of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Test players Pat Cummins, Mitch Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith will leave the squad after Friday’s second ODI in Adelaide, with Travis Head and Mitch Marsh already missing through paternity leave.
Pacemen Xavier Bartlett and Spencer Johnson will bolster the squad for the third match, joined by Josh Philippe to cover absences higher in the batting order.
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Express quick Lance Morris is also on hand, having been brought in for the first match of the series to allow Hazlewood the chance for a red-ball hit-out before the five-Test India series.
The mass exodus will leave Inglis to earn a maiden call-up to the captaincy amid a strong start to the summer.
The wicketkeeper-batter most recently made 49 runs in the two-wicket defeat of Pakistan at the MCG on Monday, with Australia collapsing and threatening to bungle victory after he holed out to the deep.
Inglis has made two red-ball centuries for Western Australia to begin the Sheffield Shield season, but his T20I appointment all but confirms he will not make an unlikely Test debut in the series opener.
Inglis had been considered an out-of-the-box option to join the batting order following Cameron Green’s back injury, but he will be in T20I camp until the week of the first Test, which begins in Perth on November 22.
Nathan McSweeney is firming as the likeliest candidate to clinch the vacancy after a strong showing for Australia A against India A last week.
English-born Inglis previously captained Australia A for a tour match against West Indies in Canberra in November 2022 and becomes Australia’s 30th ODI skipper.
He will be the 14th T20I captain when the three-match series against Pakistan begins in Brisbane next Thursday. Selectors are yet to announce the squad for the T20I series.
“Josh is an integral member of the ODI and T20I teams and a highly respected player on and off the field,” said chief selector George Bailey.
“Josh will receive great support from the likes of Matt Short and Adam Zampa, along with senior players including Glenn Maxwell and Marcus Stoinis.”
