Adam Gilchrist calls for Josh Philippe's selection in Australia's T20I squad touring New Zealand

Former Australian cricketer Adam Gilchrist has urged the Aussie selectors to pick Sydney Sixers wicketkeeper-batsman Josh Philippe for the side's upcoming T20I tour of New Zealand.

Australia are scheduled to travel across the Tasman for a five-match T20I series in New Zealand, starting from February 22.

The squad depth and bench strength of Australia's T20I outfit is likely to be stretched as a simultaneous tour of South Africa is scheduled around that window - assuming it goes ahead.

With several of Australia's white-ball regulars likely to be in South Africa and a T20 World Cup set to take place in India later this year, Gilchrist feels now is the right time to give an opportunity to someone like Josh Philippe.

“He’s so exciting. He’s a must inclusion for the T20 tour of New Zealand. Definitely. That (New Zealand tour) is a prime opportunity to get him in – not just for the experience - but at the top of the order and say ‘away you go mate’,” Gilchrist said while speaking on the Fox Cricket podcast.

Josh Philippe is currently the leading run-scorer in this year's Big Bash League (BBL 10). He has three fifties to his name and is striking the ball at a staggering 148.76 while opening the innings.

Philippe was also Sydney Sixers' most prolific run-getter in last year's BBL.

Speaking on the upcoming tours and the respective squads that will need to be selected, Australia's white-ball skipper Aaron Finch conceded that featuring in two concurrent tours is not ideal. Finch said:

“When you look at the list and the chats that you have with selectors there’s a lot of people that get talked about, and a lot of it is going to come down to, for this tour of New Zealand, selection for the Test squad, (and it) will depend on who gets opportunities and what type of player gets opportunities. It’s an exciting time for Australia cricket. It’s probably not ideal having two Australian teams playing at the same time but it’s going to give us a lot of information going forward.”

Australia’s T20 squad will fly off to New Zealand after the BBL Final on February 6, and will need to complete a 14-day quarantine period before the start of the series.