Mitchell Starc suffers minor injury during BGT 2024-25 4th Test

Australia's pace spearhead Mitchell Starc suffered a minor injury on Day 3 of the fourth Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 Test. Fellow paceman Scott Boland has opened up on his chances of bowling in the remaining part of the fourth Test against India in Melbourne.

Starc felt some issues on his back while bowling the 21st over of the innings. However, the veteran started bowling in the high 130s soon after the players returned from the rain-induced break to seemingly allay any concerns.

Speaking at the post-day press conference, Boland gave an example of Starc's toughness by how he bowled fast and sharp despite a broken finger two years ago at the same venue. The 35-year-old believes Starc bowling over 140 km/h following the break proves he should be ready.

Boland as quoted by Fox Cricket:

"He’s okay. 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."

Mitchell Starc, meanwhile, has gone wicketless in this innings so far, registering figures of 25-2-86-0. His series tally is currently 14 wickets in seven innings at an average of 29.

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"He’s played close to 90 Test matches now" - Scott Boland on Mitchell Starc

Scott Boland. (Image Credits: Getty)

Boland elaborated that the 34-year-old Mitchell Starc has the ability to bowl well even when he is in plenty of pain. He added:

"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’s 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."

Although Nitish Reddy has scored an unbeaten fighting ton, the hosts still have a 116-run lead in the first innings with two days of play still to go.