Melbourne: Australia have been forced to re-shuffle their squad just days out from their first match at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup as Cameron Green replaced Josh Inglis, who is out of the tournament due to injury.
Inglis hurt his hand while playing golf in Sydney on Wednesday and the reigning T20 World Cup champions have decided to take no risks with the 27-year-old and have removed him from their 15-player squad.
The loss of Inglis opens the door for Green to continue his meteoric recent rise in international cricket, with the 23-year-old joining the squad after impressing at the top of the order during Australia’s T20I series in India last month.
Green hit two half-centuries for Australia when filling in for veteran opener David Warner at the top of the order and the tournament hosts may look to utilise the right-hander in a similar role at the T20 World Cup should the opportunity arise.
While Inglis is a capable batter, his primary role in the Australia squad was as a back-up wicketkeeper to Matthew Wade and he may not have featured during the tournament unless Wade picked up an injury.
Australia’s first match at the T20 World Cup is against trans-Tasman rival New Zealand at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Saturday night.
Australia squad: Aaron Finch (c), Ashton Agar, Pat Cummins, Tim David, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Kane Richardson, Steven Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa.
