Josh Inglis has had a manic month, full of centuries, call ups and promotions

In-form wicketkeeper Josh Inglis admits he was surprised by his inclusion in Australia’s Test squad for the opening match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

Despite stunning form in all formats of the game across the past few months, Inglis says he was too distracted by his new title as Australian ODI and T20I skipper to consider whether he’d be given the nod to join the Border-Gavaskar Trophy party.

In the same week he was announced as his country’s 33rd 50-over and 14th 20-over captain, Inglis got a call from head coach Andrew McDonald informing him that he’d be required in Perth for the first Test on November 22.

This came two weeks after selection chair George Bailey extinguished any possibility of Inglis opening with Usman Khawaja, but left the door ajar for a role further down the order.

“Not in the short term, I don’t think that he’s someone that we would be looking to place at the top of the order,” Bailey told reporters on October 28.

“But there’s no doubt that the form is really fantastic at the moment …he would firmly come into the mix purely as a batter the way he’s been going.”

That “fantastic” form Bailey referenced included back-to-back Sheffield Shield centuries in mid-October, and a T20I century against Scotland in September.

Speculation aside, Inglis admits he didn’t allow himself any time to dwell on a potential maiden call-up to the Test set-up.

“I honestly hadn’t thought about it too much,” Inglis told the Unplayable Podcast.  

“We had the one-day series, and I was more thinking about that, about the T20 series coming up, and the captaincy.

“So I hadn’t thought too much around the Test series.

“And then Ronnie (Andrew McDonald) called me the other night and let me know. It was obviously a great phone call to receive.”

The turnaround for Inglis will be quick, after the final T20 finishes in Hobart on the evening of November 18, he’ll have only three full days to get to the other side of the country before the blockbuster opener, a flight that the 29-year-old has become all-to-well-accustomed to.

Although Inglis doesn’t see himself having a major impact on proceedings.

“I’ll probably be mixing the drinks for the boys,” Inglis said.

“As a spare batter, I probably don’t see that happening unless someone’s injured.

“But I’m pumped to be around the group … hopefully (I) bring lots of energy and have a good time with the boys.”

First though, Inglis has three T20s to focus on against a fired-up Pakistan unit that’s brimming with confidence after upsetting Australia in the ODIs.

The keeper-batter didn’t get much of an opportunity to showcase his leadership skills in the third ODI, with only 140 runs to defend, the Aussies’ bowling innings was over in 26.5 overs.

When he gets his time to lead during the upcoming series, Inglis will be modelling his style on long-time Western Australia and Perth Scorchers teammate Ashton Turner.

“He’s always thinking very positively, always moving the game and taking risks at times,” Inglis said.

“I really like the way he goes about it.

“It’s tough because I haven’t done a heap of it (captaincy), but I think (I’d like to be) that same mould.

“I quite like guys who are always looking to take positive options and trying to make things happen, and I like thinking about the game in that way.”

Listen to the full episode with Inglis in the player above or get the episode on your podcast platform of choice, such as Apple or Spotify. 

Australia v Pakistan T20Is 2024

November 14: Gabba, 7.00pm AEDT

November 16: SCG: 7.00pm AEDT

November 18: Bellerive Oval, Hobart, 7.00pm AEDT

All matches live and exclusive on Fox Cricket and Kayo Sports

Australia T20 squad: Josh Inglis (c), Sean Abbott, Xavier Bartlett, Tim David, Nathan Ellis, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Aaron Hardie, Spencer Johnson, Glenn Maxwell, Josh Philippe, Matthew Short, Marcus Stoinis, Adam Zampa

Pakistan T20 squad: Muhammad Rizwan (c), Abbas Afridi, Agha Salman, Arafat Minhas, Babar Azam, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah Khan, Irfan Khan, Jahandad Khan, Naseem Shah, Omair Yousuf, Sahibzada Farhan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufiyan Muqeem, Usman Khan.