MELBOURNE: Australia coach Andrew McDonald said he was optimistic Tuesday that pace spearhead Mitchell Starc will be fit for the decisive fifth Test against India while also backing misfiring Mitch Marsh.
The hosts pulled off a stunning 184-run win deep into day five of the fourth Test in Melbourne and there is a quick turnaround before the match in Sydney from Friday.
Australia are 2-1 up in the series and will regain the Border-Gavaskar trophy for the first time since 2014-15 if they win or draw the New Year’s Test.
Victory would also guarantee them a place in the June World Test Championship final at Lord’s against South Africa.
Left-armer Starc bowled 41 overs in Melbourne but clearly struggled in the latter stages, reportedly with sore ribs.
McDonald said selectors would wait to see how he is before making any calls.
“We’ll see how the bodies are. Clearly Starcy’s carrying something of some description. We’ll assess that,” he said. “But other than that it looks as though we got through.
“But short turnaround, recovery is important and we’ll assess what the team looks like in Sydney based upon the surface, as we always do.”
McDonald said though it was a good indicator that Starc kept bowling in Melbourne.
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“It didn’t stop him. Clearly there was a little bit of discomfort early on in spells but once he got warm, it seemed as though he was pretty free. Ball speeds are good.”
Jhye Richardson and Sean Abbott are the other fast bowlers in the squad, with skipper Pat Cummins and Scott Boland certain to play again.
All-rounder Marsh’s position is under scrutiny after a poor series so far.
He has failed to fire with the bat and sent down just 16 wicketless overs across the last three Tests after a back problem in the opening match at Perth.
McDonald dismissed concerns that he was still not fully fit, but admitted Marsh was under-performing.
“I think people have probably been reading too much into that (sore back),” McDonald said. “We haven’t required him with the ball as often as what we would have thought.
“There are no injury concerns. He is in a good space.
“Would he like better performances? There’s no doubt about that.”
Beau Webster is in the squad as a potential replacement.
India have their own selection headaches with questions mounting over the form of skipper Rohit Sharma.
The 37-year-old struggled throughout the 3-0 home series loss to New Zealand in October-November and has failed to get past 10 runs in any of his five innings in Australia.
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