'Underrated' tough-guy Starc under fitness cloud

Australia are banking on Mitchell Starc living up to his standing as one of cricket's underrated tough nuts, but the left-armer's latest niggle could put him under a fitness cloud for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy finale.

Starc was hampered on day three of the Boxing Day Test against India by an upper-body concern. The 34-year-old bowled through pain, clearly determined not to leave Australia a bowler short midway through a match for a second consecutive Test. 

The seriousness of his injury remained unclear at stumps on Saturday, but fellow quick Scott Boland was confident their new-ball spearhead would be right for a looming fourth-innings tilt at India.

"He's okay. I think he's just had a bit of a niggle in his back or rib, but he came out after the (tea) break and was bowling 140 (kph) so I think he'll be fine," Boland told reporters.

Speaking to the ABC, Boland added: "Playing a Test match is pretty hard on your body and he's played all four Tests so far. I think he's just a little bit stiff in his back."

Starc is renowned for pushing through pain, notably bowling with a broken finger in the Boxing Day Test against South Africa two summers ago, an injury that would end up sidelining him for two months.

But even if he is able to soldier on in Melbourne, Australia will be loath to risk the veteran bowler if the issue lingers ahead of the Sydney Test given he has already sent down 115.2 overs through the first four Tests of the series.

Starc looked ginger when he took the second new ball on day three and then grabbed at the mid-section of his back after the first ball of his ensuing spell. He received some running repairs from Australia's physiotherapist, though the issue continued to dog him.

A three-over burst after the break where he continued to touch the 140kph-mark underscored his resilience.

"I think he's underrated for how tough he is," said Boland.

"A couple of years ago here at the MCG he had a broken finger and we were planning for him not to bowl at all – and then he came out and bowled 140k swingers.

"He's someone who can play through a lot of pain.

"You can tell he's played (93) Test matches now. As a fast bowler there's not many Tests you play without any niggle at all. He's someone who can still bowl the same pace even when he is really sore – which is a great trait to have."

Starc missing the series finale in his hometown would leave the Aussies without two of their three first-choice quicks. The calf injury Josh Hazlewood suffered at the Gabba has ruled him out for the series.

The hosts have seen virtually no drop in quality with Boland filling in for Hazlewood in another strong turnout from the Victorian who dismissed key men Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant in India's first innings.

The next rung down of their pace depth is more of an unknown.

Jhye Richardson and Sean Abbott are the reserve fast bowlers in Australia's listed squad for the final two Tests and would be the frontrunners to replace Starc at the SCG if required.

Brendan Doggett shadowed the team through the first three Tests, while nationally-contracted speedster Lance Morris has in previous years been kept on standby specifically for Starc due to his extra pace.

Given Abbott, Doggett and Morris are all uncapped at Test level, Richardson is the most qualified given his tremendous record (11 wickets at 22.09) from the three Tests he has played.

But the last of those came three years ago during the 2021-22 Ashes. The whippy right-armer may be considered an injury risk as well given the physical challenges he has faced during his two-and-a-half-year absence from international cricket.

Richardson dislocated his shoulder giving a high-five in his Sheffield Shield return game last month. He returned to the bowling crease but even he conceded his surprise last week when he was recalled to the Test squad.

"Even a week ago, I was like, 'I'm not really thinking about (Test cricket) just yet'," Richardson told Fox Cricket.

"I just wanted to stay on the park and play Big Bash cricket and make sure that the body was OK and keep ramping up (the workloads) and following the processes that we've got in place.

"But here we are, and if there's an opportunity, then it's obviously really exciting."

NRMA Insurance Men's Test Series v India

First Test: India won by 295 runs

Second Test: Australia won by 10 wickets

Third Test: Match drawn

Fourth Test: December 26-30: MCG, Melbourne, 10.30am AEDT

Fifth Test: January 3-7: SCG, Sydney, 10.30am AEDT

Australia squad: Pat Cummins (c), Sean Abbott, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Travis Head (vc), Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Sam Konstas, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Jhye Richardson, Steve Smith (vc), Mitchell Starc, Beau Webster

India squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Devdutt Padikkal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar. Reserves: Mukesh Kumar, Navdeep Saini, Khaleel Ahmed, Yash Dayal