Steve Smith’s comeback to his preferred position of No. 4 in the batting order has made Usman Khawaja’s possible opening partner a key talking point leading up to the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024–2025. Calls to have Josh Inglis open the batting have also surfaced recently, despite the fact that Sam Konstas, Marcus Harris, and Cameron Bancroft are the three main candidates to fill the position.
In the current Sheffield Shield, the wicketkeeper-batter has been in incredible form, amassing four tonnes from seven appearances. While praising his domestic cricket performances, Australia’s top selector George Bailey disregarded the 29-year-old’s potential to play with Khawaja in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
The short term, no. He isn’t someone we would want to put at the head of the order, in my opinion. “It’s undeniable that he’s in great form right now, and his ability to return to domestic cricket and dominate has been amazing,” Bailey told reporters on Monday.
“Josh Inglis’ performances could be rewarded in future series, but definitely not against India this summer,”
the former captain of Australia stated. “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.”
Performance is what we’re searching for: George Bailey
Bailey stated that when choosing the opener for the five-match Test series against India, the player’s consistency will be a key consideration.
Three of our athletes bat first for their state, while one bats at number three. Performance is what we’re looking for. It’s always a wonderful opportunity to see how players interact in a different
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team than what they’re used to since cricket is a really high standard,” Bailey said. When Australia A plays India A, Konstas, Harris, and Bancroft will get a chance to show off their abilities and form.
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