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Mitchell Starc was seen holding his back and receiving treatment from the Australian physio on Saturday.
Mitchell Starc (Image: AP)
Australian pacer Scott Bolland allayed fears around Mitchell Starc’s fitness saying the left-arm quick was ‘okay’ and was ‘going to be fine’ for the crucial fourth day of the fourth Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).
Starc bowled 25 wicketless overs in India’s first innings in the Boxing Day Test, managing to sneak in only two maidens and conceding 86 runs. On Saturday, he was seen holding his back and had to be tended by Nick Jones, the team’s physiotherapist.
“He’s okay,” Boland said in a press conference after the day’s play. “He just had a bit of a niggle somewhere in his back or rib, I don’t know, somewhere back there, but he came out after the break and was bowling 140km/h, so I think he’s going to be fine.”
“I think he is underrated for how tough he is. A couple of years ago here at the MCG, he had a broken finger and we’re pretty much planning for him not to bowl at all and then he came out and bowled 140km/h swingers,” Boland said.
Starc has bowled 115.2 overs in the BGT, only marginally less than Pat Cummins and Jasprit Bumrah, who are level at 116.4. He would have probably been rested for at least one of the four Tests so far had Josh Hazlewood not picked up an injury after the first Test which ruled him out of the second and allowed him to bowl only a few overs in the third game.
“He’s someone who can play through a lot of pain, and you can probably tell (that because) he’s played close to 90 Test matches now. And as a fast bowler, there are not many games where you do play without any niggle at all. He’s someone who can still bowl at the same pace even when he is really sore, which is a great trait to have,” Boland added.
Thanks to a century from Nitish Kumar Reddy and a fifty from Washington Sundar, India ended the day at 358/9, trailing by 116 runs. Boland was the pick of the Aussie bowlers, sending down 27 overs for three wickets, bowling seven maidens and conceding only 57 runs.
- Location :
Melbourne, Australia
