Australia's paceman, said he still feels some discomfort in his finger after fracturing a tendon in a fielding accident in December, but he hopes to be back in the team for the third test against India, which begins on Wednesday in Indore.
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Mitchell Starc, Australia’s paceman, said he still feels some discomfort in his finger after fracturing a tendon in a fielding accident in December, but he hopes to be back in the team for the third test against India, which begins on Wednesday in Indore. The left-armer injured his bowling hand’s middle finger and was sidelined as Australia lost the first two tests of the four-match series against India. With skipper Pat Cummins and batsman David Warner left out, the tourists are expected to rely on Starc and all-rounder Cameron Green.
“There’s going to be a level of discomfort for a while, I don’t think it is going to be 100% for a fair while,” Starc said on Monday. “But it’s certainly good enough. The ball’s coming out quite nicely and I feel I’m pretty much at full tilt. It wouldn’t be the first test match I’ve played in some sort of discomfort. If I only played when I was at 100% I would have only played five or 10 tests. I’m happy with where it’s at and I’ve got enough of a pain threshold to deal with that stuff over the last 10 or 12 years.”
Cummins has returned home to care for his unwell mother, leaving Steve Smith, Australia’s captain from 2015 to 2018, to lead the team in his absence. Starc believed the quicks might still play an important part in the series, which had hitherto favoured spinners. “It’s been a challenge in the last couple of weeks, the first two tests,” he said. We do see spin playing a huge part in this test series but the quicks have still played a particular role, whether it be with the new ball if it does reverse-swing, and being able to bowl that skiddy ball and bring the stumps into play. So there’s certainly an important role to play for the seam bowlers.”
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Unlike Cummins in Delhi, Starc should not have to bear the speed bowling alone, with Cameron Green expected to play for the first time in the series, allowing Australia to finally choose a squad with the balance they desire after having to make sacrifices in the first two matches. Now, the three frontline spinners deployed in Delhi are expected to be retained, if Todd Murphy shows no response to the small side issue he encountered last week.
Starc does not have many happy memories of bowling in India, where he took seven wickets at 50.14 in four Tests during two previous visits. Australia’s quicks have failed to have the same effect as India’s in this series, especially Mohammed Shami, who has been a menace with both new and old balls, but Starc was optimistic that he could make an impact with his velocity and angle even if spin remained dominating. With the rough he will generate outside the right-handers’ off stump, Starc’s return will also benefit Australia’s two offspinners, Murphy and Nathan Lyon, though whatever is available for them will also be useful to R Ashwin.
