Mitchell Starc ‘good chance’ to return for second Test in Delhi

Australian quick Mitchell Starc has given an update on his injury recovery as selectors consider a revamped bowling attack.

Mitchell Starc says he is a “good chance” to return for the second Test against India but has been frustrated by the speed of his recovery from a serious finger injury.

The left arm quick, who detached the tendon from the bone in his left middle finger during the Boxing Day Test, said he had until Wednesday night to prove his fitness.

Starc would provide much needed penetration on a Delhi pitch expected to be low and slow, after captain Pat Cummins and Scott Boland only managed one wicket between them in the first Test and rarely threatened.

Australian selectors would be tempted to rush him straight back into the side, particularly if seam bowling all-rounder Cameron Green is not deemed to have recovered from his own finger injury.

Mitchell Starc says he would ‘like to be a little further down the road’ in his recovery from a finger injury. Picture: Quinn Rooney / Getty Images

“I’d like to be a little further down the road,” Starc said when asked how he was tracking.

“Still a good chance, so it will come down to how it reacts by the end of the day, how the medical staff see it, how the selectors and Pat (Cummins) and Ronnie (Andrew McDonald) feel about it as well.

“I’ll do everything I can to be fully available for selection, then it’s a discussion for the rest of the group involved.”

The 32-year-old said he did not think batting would pose much of a problem with his injury, while he would wear a protective cover on his finger in the field.

Starc said he would still be able to bowl “as normal”.

Starc would provide a different skill set to Pat Cummins and Scott Boland, which may better suit the conditions in Delhi. Picture: Robert Cianflone / Getty Images

“(Batting) is going to be uncomfortable but I don’t think it’s an issue,” he said.

“I think I’ll still field with a cap on (the finger), that’s what I did in Melbourne … I don’t field myself in slip anyway.”

The training pitches at Delhi’s Arun Jaitely Stadium, where the Indian Test side has not been beaten since 1987, seemed to closely resemble conditions out in the middle, Starc said.

“I’m not sure we’ll see conditions change too much from last week with how the guys have discussed it,” he said.

“I think judging on the last couple of days, the wickets out the back are similar in many ways to what the centre is.”

Green, Travis Head and uncapped spinner Matt Kuhnemann will all join Starc in the selection frame ahead of the Friday start, with incumbent number five Matt Renshaw under pressure after making 0 and 2 in Nagpur, and Scott Boland a chance to be forced out due to team balance.