Josh Inglis not to bat as opener against India, says Australia’s chief selector

New Delhi: Australia have no plans to ask Josh Inglis to open their innings against India in the upcoming five-match Test series tha begins on November 22 for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, chief selector George Bailey said.

The 29-year-old has produced impressive performances in Australia’s domestic cricket, hitting four hundreds in seven outings. Australia have been in search for a permanent opener to partner Usman Khawaja since the retirement of David Warner.

They have tried regular No.4 batter Steve Smith up top with not much success, leading to calls for Inglis to be given a go. But Bailey poured cold water on those thoughts, saying that the selection committee leaded by him doesn’t view Inglis as an opening candidate.

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The selectors rather view him as a middle-order batter, which Australia have in abundance.

“Not in the short-term. I don’t think that he’s someone we would be looking to place at the top of the order,” Bailey said on Monday.

“There’s no doubt that his form is really fantastic at the moment, and the ability to jump back into domestic cricket and dominate has been fantastic.”

However, Bailey didn’t rule out the use of Inglis as opener in the future but in the upcoming high-profile series against India he won’t be rushed.

“If the right opportunity opened up throughout the summer, in the spots where we think he’s most capable of performing, I think he’d be firmly in that conversation as well,” Bailey added.

With Inglis not in the reckoning, eyes would be on Sam Konstas, Marcus Harris, and Cameron Bancroft who all would present their cases in upcoming Australia A matches where consistency could be the key determinant.

“We’ve got three players who open the batting for their state and one player who bats at three,” Bailey said.

“We’re looking for performance. The standard of cricket is pretty high, so that’s always a great opportunity seeing how players interact in a different team to what they’re used to.”