Ricky Ponting
Ricky Ponting. Image- Twitter

Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting opines that while Aaron Finch has a few questions to get answers for ahead of the T20 World Cup, the most concerning one is the wicket-keeper’s slot.

At the moment it looks like a 3-way battle between Alex Carey, Matthew Wade, and Josh Philippe; all three have been named in the 23-man preliminary squad for the tour of West Indies, which will be shortened.

While Carey is Australia’s first-choice keeper in ODIs and has also been put into the leadership group, it is Wade who has been handed the gloves in their last couple of T20 series. Josh Philippe remains another option at the top.

matthew wade
Matthew Wade [Photo: Wisden]

“The keeper-batsman is probably the slot they’d be losing the most sleep over right now. They’ve still got some questions to answer as far as what their overall squad looks like and I think the biggest one is ‘Who is going to be standing behind the stumps with the gloves on?’,” Ricky Ponting was quoted as saying by cricket.com.au.

“They have tried a few blokes — Wade has been there, Phillipe has just played as a batter, Alex Carey has been in and out and tried in a few different batting spots,” he added.

Josh Inglis’s name could be thrown into the ring as well: Ricky Ponting

Ricky Ponting then named 26-year old Perth Scorchers keeper Josh Inglis. The right-hander has been in impressive form in the last Big Bash League, scoring 413 runs at an average of 34.41, striking at 140.00, helping the side to the finals.

Josh Inglis
Josh Inglis. Image-Twitter

Australia is scheduled to tour the West Indies for 5 T20Is and 3 ODIs before travelling to Bangladesh for 5 T20Is.

“Josh Inglis’s name could be thrown into the ring as well — I really liked what I saw from him batting in the middle order in last summer’s BBL. He plays spin really well and you think about where the World Cup is going to be (in India or the UAE), he could be a name that could come up (for selection),” observed the former captain.

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