Starc's resilience puts him at the top of the tree

Mitchell Starc has one of the world's best yorkers, bowls at 145km/h and swings the ball late, but the left-armer's greatest trait may be his resilience.

Starc's career will enter a 15th calendar year in Friday's fifth and deciding Test against India, after overcoming rib pain to take his place at the SCG.

At times in recent years, Starc has become a depiction of mind over body.

He played through a busted finger in the 2022 Boxing Day Test and endured shoulder and groin issues in the 2023 Ashes while long battling constant ankle niggles.

Even last week in Melbourne, Starc sent down 16 overs in the last innings while fighting through pain in his core on the final day.

"It's just his resilience," Australia's captain Pat Cummins said. 

"He has bowled 145km/h for 15 years. And a lot of overs. You just don't do that without dealing with different niggles and setbacks.

"He just grits his teeth and gets on with it.

"He is the one player who refuses ever to talk about being rested or rotated. He wants to go out there and play for Australia. 

"He has had some quiet games in the past and people are out to get him, but he just wants to play. I just have huge admiration for him from that point of view."

Starc's ability to bowl at pace so deep into his career is rare, with his 373 Test wickets second only to Glenn McGrath for Australian speedsters.

Australia's other 21st-century express quicks Brett Lee and Mitchell Johnson lasted 10 and nine years respectively.

Only Ray Lindwall and McGrath have lasted longer of all Australian Test pacemen, with the latter better known for his persistent accuracy rather than outright speed.

"As a bowler he has adapted a lot in the last five years. He has a wobble seam, he bowls bouncers quite well," Cummins said of Starc.

"It's not just that get it full, make it swing and hit the front pad. He's got different strengths, comes around the wicket to right-handers. 

"He's really proactive and knows his skill sets quite well. He's an absolute dream as a captain, so you feel like you've got five different bowlers in one."

Cummins said it would have taken a serious injury for Starc to miss the Sydney Test, with Australia gunning to regain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy for the first time in 10 years.

"You always consider it, he went off for a scan yesterday. Got the all clear to play this match," Cummins said.

"There is always considerations. But it's a big game in the context of the series and World Test Championship. 

"He was never going to miss this one unless he absolutely had to."

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: Australia won by 184 runs

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

Australia squad: Pat Cummins (c), Sean Abbott, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Travis Head (vc), 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