Regarded as one of the finest batting talents in the Australian T20 circuit, Josh Inglis made his T20I debut against Sri Lanka in Sydney in February this year. Since then, the dynamic stroke-player from Western-Australia has smashed 179 runs from 7 innings at a pretty impressive strike rate of 144.35, impressing a majority of the cricket fraternity.
The experienced Australian keeper-batter Matthew Wade reckons Inglis as his successor in the shortest format of the game. Looking at Josh's immense potential, Wade termed Inglis as the finest among the current lot and predicted the Leeds-born to get ample opportunities at the highest level ahead of his competitors.
"There's no doubt at all," Wade said when asked if he sees Inglis as his successor.
"We've had a look at a few wicketkeeper-batter options over the last 12 months in T20 internationals and I think Josh (Inglis) was the one that's certainly put his hand up. He's been around the squad now for a period of time, so I have no doubt that he'll be the next one that gets plenty of chances to play international cricket", he further added.
Continuing, Wade said that although Inglis is well-equipped to face the challenges of international cricket, he needs to wait for his chances as there is rarely any vacancy available in the national team.
"I know he's ready to go right now and if the opportunity comes up, then he'll play (but) I don't really want anyone to go out of the team. It'd be great to see him play, but unfortunately at times you've got to wait for an opportunity to come up", the 196-internationals veteran said.
On being asked whether he sees Inglis getting an opportunity over himself in the Australian T20I team, the swashbuckling southpaw from Hobart deemed his own return as both batter and keeper to be really satisfactory over the last year and therefore opined that he doesn't see himself being replaced by Inglis anytime soon.
"I'd like to think over the last 12 months that I've been an integral part of the T20 team. My performances probably speak for themselves. I feel like my keeping over the last two years has been as good as it's ever been. I feel pretty comfortable in the role at the moment. That can change quickly, obviously, but I'd like to think I've got a few credits in the bank at this stage", the 34-year old concluded.