Whether their battle-weary players opted for celebratory protein shakes over winners’ beers last night, Australia are hopeful they will not be counting the cost of a gruelling penultimate Test against India at the MCG.

Mitchell Starc is the biggest concern for Pat Cummins’ side ahead of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series finale in Sydney after the “warrior” speedster sent down his highest Test overs tally in two years despite carrying a painful rib concern for most of the epic five-day encounter.

The pace brigade has proved remarkably durable in recent years but the fast-paced nature of home matches – the MCG epic was their first in 13 home Tests that went into a fifth day when rain was not a factor – has undoubtedly helped.

Australia bowled more balls in Melbourne than they have in any Test since the 2022-23 home summer opener against West Indies in Perth.

After that match, which was until yesterday their most recent final-day Test victory at home, the Aussies were forced into making two changes to their bowling attack for the ensuing Test after Cummins and Josh Hazlewood both picked up injuries.

On that occasion, they had only three days to recover. That is the case again this week.

“A couple of boys won’t have a beer,” Cummins said after the 184-run win over India. “Some others might not (and opt instead for) water and some protein shakes and an early night.”

Cummins was bullish Starc will be fit to play his home Test despite acknowledging his injury had left him wincing at the start of each spell before he warmed up. Coach Andrew McDonald said they would have to wait see how he pulls up.

“We’ll see how everyone recovers tomorrow,” McDonald told reporters. “Clearly, bowling last, it was a pretty attritional game, something that we’re not used to in the last few years.

“We’ll see how the bodies are. Clearly ‘Starcy’ is carrying something of some description. We’ll assess that. But other than that, it looks as though we got through pretty well unscathed.

“Short turnaround, recovery is important, and we’ll assess what the team looks like in Sydney based upon the surface, as we always do.

“Any time you get through the game, it’s always a good indicator that you’re a chance at the next game. It didn’t stop (Starc). Clearly, there was a little bit of discomfort early on in spells, but once he got warm, it seems as though he was pretty free.”

Sean Abbott and Jhye Richardson will be in the frame if Starc does not pull through. Richardson will play for the Perth Scorchers in the BBL tonight, but Abbott is not expected to be available for the Sydney Sixers in their New Year’s Day game.

Even if Starc is not 100 per cent fit for Sydney, it may be worth taking a punt on pushing their fastest bowler to play a fifth straight Test. India will level the series at 2-2 if they win, retaining a Border-Gavaskar Trophy Australia have not held in a decade.

Australia will also qualify for the World Test Championship final if they triumph at the SCG, meaning they will not have to rely on winning a Test on their upcoming two-Test tour of Sri Lanka.

Complicating matters further however is the fact Starc is close to Australia’s premier seam bowler on the subcontinent. Burning him for the final Test could jeopardise his involvement in Sri Lanka. Josh Hazlewood is hopeful of being fit for that series, while Cummins’ availability is clouded by the expected arrival of his second child during the tour.

Australia are also mindful Sydney presents statistically the flattest Test pitch in the country; over the past decade, the SCG has averaged 41.57 runs per wicket, considerably more than the next most batter-friendly venue, the MCG at 33.21.

Even so, McDonald notes the workloads of Cummins (136.4 overs for the series) and Starc (131.2) are down on what they had projected at the beginning of the series.

“There’s no doubt the flatness of the surface over the past few years … creates different challenges for us, short turnaround as well,” McDonald said of the SCG.

“I think the amount of overs that have been bowled in the series is probably going to be to a benefit to us, to be honest.

“I got asked the question leading into this game, ‘Where are the quicks at?’ I think they’re in pretty good shape. The assumption is they recover from this one.

“India are probably very similar, albeit a heavier workload here. But across the entirety of this series, it’s been relatively light, so I’d expect both attacks to be in decent shape to be able to press.

“Does that mean you need a fifth bowler? I think you still need a fifth bowler. But are you going to put a huge demand on the fifth bowler? Potentially not.”

On that final point, questions will be asked of allrounder Mitch Marsh. The Western Australian has only been required to bowl 33 overs for the series. McDonald insists that has been satisfactory and that a back niggle that hindered him in the first Test has subsided.

But the coach conceded his returns with the bat have fallen short of the standard he set the previous home Test summer when he was Australia’s leading run scorer across the Pakistan and West Indies series.

In seven innings against India this season, he has scored 73 runs at 10.42. A possible replacement (albeit one who is a non-bowler) in Josh Inglis is out with a calf injury, leaving another allrounder, Beau Webster, as the main contender should selectors opt to omit Marsh.

Webster’s 62 first-class wickets at 28 since the start of the 2023-24 summer make him an appealing option if Australia place more emphasis on bowling for the No.6 spot. A left-field consideration would be to bring in Abbott at seven and move wicketkeeper Alex Carey up to six.

Cummins’ returns with the bat (149 runs at 21.28 this series) could make that route palatable, although Australia’s tail then looks longer if Starc misses for Richardson.

“He’s in a good space,” McDonald said of Marsh. “Would he like better performances? There’s no doubt about that.

“Over four Test matches, he hasn’t been able to deliver at the level he would like and we would like.

“I think people have probably been reading too much into (Marsh’s lack of bowling in this series) – we haven’t required him with the ball as often as what we would have thought.

“He bowled again today, his speeds are up in the high 120s. There are no injury concerns there, I think to head that down that angle is a little bit unfair. We just haven’t required him (with the ball) at certain times for whatever reason.

“So that that’s more a tactical implementation.”

NRMA Insurance Men’s Test Series v India

First Test: India won by 295 runs

Second Test: Australia won by 10 wickets

Third Test: Match drawn

Fourth Test: Australia won by 184 runs

Fifth Test: January 3-7: SCG, Sydney, 10.30am AEDT

Australia squad: Pat Cummins (c), Sean Abbott, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Travis Head (vc), Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Sam Konstas, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Jhye Richardson, Steve Smith (vc), Mitchell Starc, Beau Webster

India squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Devdutt Padikkal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar. Reserves: Mukesh Kumar, Navdeep Saini, Khaleel Ahmed, Yash Dayal