Australia hope Mitchell Starc will be available for selection in the fifth and final Test against India at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) beginningon Friday.

The left-arm speedster has been bothered a little bit by a pain in his left rib and side and was seen grimacing at times while bowling during the fourth Test in Melbourne. On the final day of the game, Starc had even left the field for some time with Sean Abbott going in as a substitute, during the final session of the Test.

Starc was sent for scans following the Melbourne Test, although Australia’s keeper-batter Alex Carey believes the pacer will be ready by the time the Sydney Test begins.

“He (Starc) will be fine. He’ll push through,” Carey said on Wednesday. “I have played with Starcy for a long time now and he is one of the toughest cricketers I have played with.

“So, he’ll grimace and grab his rib, no doubt, but he’ll be ready for the contest.”

Despite Starc taking only one wicket in the fourth Test — the vital scalp of Virat Kohli in India’s second innings on Monday — Carey was impressed with the 34-year-old’s performance in Melbourne.

“I thought that first spell (on the final day in Melbourne) without the reward was, you know, some of the best bowling I’ve seen in this series from Mitchell,” Carey said.

“He has got an opportunity now to help this team in a Test. He’ll be up for the contest, and I think his bowling just got better throughout the series.”

Carey’s views apart, the 34-year-old Starc, with 15 wickets in four Tests in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy, hasn’t really looked devastating. Barring his 6/48 in the first innings of the day-night Adelaide Test, Starc has looked a tad flat in quite a few of his spells against India.

In overcast conditions at the Gabba, he couldn’t break the Jasprit Bumrah-Akash Deep last-wicket stand, which allowed India to avoid the follow-on on the penultimate day of the third Test.

If Starc does miss out in the coming Test, Jhye Richardson seems to be in line to take his place.

Richardson last played a Test in December 2021 in the pink-ball game against England during The Ashes in Adelaide, where he took a fifer.

“You can’t spend too much energy wondering what’s going to happen with selections. I’m trying not to think about it too much. But if the opportunity arises, I’ll do my best to grab it,” the right-arm quick was quoted as saying by cricket.com.au.