T20 World Cup: Australian player Josh Inglis' relaxing day turns into a medical emergency

With just days remaining before the Australia cricket team begins its T20 World Cup campaign, the defending champion suffered a major injury blow with wicketkeeper Josh Inglis being taken to hospital. Inglis suffered a cut on his right hand while playing golf in Sydney. The wicket-keeper batsman had recently featured in the Australia cricket team's first warm-up match against India.

T20 World Cup: How bad is Josh Inglis injury?

According to a cricket.com.au report, Inglis was left with a severely cut hand after the handle of the club he was swinging snapped upon impact. The incident took place on Wednesday morning at the New South Wales Golf Club. Unfortunately, the incident happened on the day when he had a day off from training. 

The report further states that Inglis was taken to the hospital with a bloodied right hand. The injury looked like receiving stitches, with Cricket Australia stating on Wednesday afternoon saying that the cricketer was being assessed by team medicos. Last month England wicketkeeper-batsman Jonny Bairstow was ruled out of the T20 World Cup tournament after an injury while playing golf. Bairstow suffered a badly broken ankle caused by slipping on a tee box on the day the squad was announced.

Will Josh Inglis play for Australia in T20 World Cup?

Inglis was part of the title-winning team last year and played as backup to Matthew Wade. This as well, Inglis is the understudy and is unlikely to feature in the playing XI unless an injury to Wade or a concussion substitute is required. If the injury turns out to be serious then Australia have the chance to replace him in their 15-player squad with ICC's approval. 

In the build-up to the T20 World Cup, Josh Inglis has featured in just three T20I matches for Australia. All three matches he played were against India. The first two matches were on Australia's tour of India followed by the recent warm-up match at Gabba on Monday. The 27-year-old had made a good impression with the limited number of opportunities presented to him, with a strike rate of 141.02. He is viewed as the natural successor to Wade whenever he retires.