Australian white-ball captain Josh Inglis has defended his squad for Thursday night’s first T20 match against Pakistan, pushing back against claims of a B-grade line-up.

Cricket Australia has been heavily criticised for its approach to the white-ball series against Pakistan with several key players rested in preparation for the upcoming Test series against India.

On Sunday, Pakistan’s historic 2-1 ODI series victory was sealed after Australia fielded an under-strength team and paid the price in the decider.

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Speaking to media on Wednesday, Inglis was asked if those named in the T20 squad found it disrespectful to be branded a second-rate team.

Inglis quickly rubbished the notion that the team is not up to task.

“I don’t think it’s very fair to say that, but we know how challenging the schedule is,” he said.

“There’s always series overlapping where players are used [in different] formats.

“There are decisions to be made. That’s above my pay grade, thankfully.”

Inglis was confident the Aussies would bounce back from their poor showing in the ODI series where they under-delivered with both the bat and the ball.

“There were big losses, and typically not something that we’re very used to,” he said.

“You’ve got to be honest, that batting group didn’t score enough runs and that’s on us to rectify that this week.

“Everyone’s got their methods and how they go about it. It’s just about bringing them up this week, and let’s forget about what’s happened before.

“Just attack it head-on and keep backing yourself … [but] we’ve seen how good a side this [Pakista] team is and we don’t take any team we come against lightly.”

First standing in as skipper for the final ODI match, Inglis also assured that his captaincy style would be more complimentary if his side could post more competitive totals.

“I quite like to be positive in considering the moves I make in the field and the bowling changes,” he said.

“I probably haven’t been able to implement that as much. Only having 140 on the board [in the third ODI against Pakistan] was quite tough.

“We’ll see how it pans out this week but hopefully it’ll be about making positive decisions.”

The three-match series kicks off at 7pm AEDT on Thursday at the Gabba.