In absence of Australian captain Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc is set to return for third Test at Indore despite feeling discomfort in his injured finger. Starc had dislocated the tip of his middle finger during Boxing Day Test against South Africa. Starc will continued to wear the splint but he will push through the pain to lead Australia's pace attack as they are currently down by two Tests in Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2023.
"It's good enough," Starc said of his finger. "There's going to be a level of discomfort… I don't think it is going to be 100% for a little while, but the ball is coming out quite nicely and I feel like I'm pretty much at full tilt.
"It's more the discomfort of the joint being restricted having been in a splint for six weeks and still having to be in a splint for another couple of weeks yet. That's probably the only part - dealing with the discomfort of it, getting the mobility back into it. That'll come over the next couple of weeks and it's progressed again, it's a progression each day I bowl. It's not a concern for me, the comfort levels - it's doing what I need it to do to be available to play.”
Starc also revealed that it is not the first time he has played a Test match with some discomfort.
"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 ten Tests. I'm happy with where it's at and I've built up enough of a pain threshold to deal with that stuff over the last 10 or 12 years," the 33-year-old said.
The left-arm pacer has not had much success on Indian pitches in red-ball cricket. From four Tests, he has seven wickets at an average of 50.14. Along with Starc, all-rounder Cameron Green is set to play in the Indore Test as well. Green may open the bowling alongside Starc as Australia may retain the spin trio from Delhi Test.
