India’s final push at retaining the Border-Gavaskar Trophy might have to be made without Jasprit Bumrah after their superstar paceman was revealed to have suffered back spasm on day two of the fifth NRMA Insurance Test in Sydney.

Bumrah left the SCG wearing a tracksuit during Australia’s first innings on Saturday with broadcast cameras capturing him being whisked away in a van accompanied by medical staff.

India confirmed after play their captain had indeed been sent for scans, putting him under a cloud to be able to bowl when Australia begin their fourth-innings run chase (almost certainly) on day three.

The right-armer is fresh off the biggest workload he has ever shouldered in a Test, sending down 53.2 overs in India’s defeat in Melbourne. Only once, against England in 2021, has he bowled more overs in a series, with his tally currently standing at 157.1.

India were 145 runs ahead of Australia at the close of play with four second-innings wickets in hand on a challenging SCG surface.

It is not an overstatement to suggest Bumrah’s ability to bowl on Sunday could be the deciding factor in the series with India seeking a victory to even the series ledger at 2-2.

“Clearly he’s the leading wicket taker in the series, so you’d say that it would be slightly beneficial for us (if he does not bowl),” Australia coach Andrew McDonald told reporters at stumps.

“He can bowl on any surface, anywhere. He’s a threat any time. We knew that coming in the series. He’s an incredibly talented bowler, if he wasn’t to be there, then India would have to come up with a new plan.”

A tied series would see India retain the trophy and extend Australia’s wait to get their hands on it to a full decade.

Bumrah’s 32 wickets across the five Tests have cost 13 runs apiece. Another big bag in the final innings of their tour could see him go past Maurice Tate’s century-old record for the most wickets in a Test series in Australia by a visiting bowler (38).

Pressed specifically on how much India would miss him on this seaming Sydney pitch, McDonald smiled as he said: “Have you watched the rest of the series? He’s been good in Perth, Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne – and Sydney is going OK as well.”

India have been mindful of burning their superstar seamer even before this final match.

Their since-deposed captain Rohit Sharma admitted after the 184-run loss in Melbourne that managing Bumrah, who has since replaced the opener as skipper, has been a challenge in this series.

“To be honest, he has bowled a lot of overs. There is no doubt about it,” said Rohit.

“If somebody is in such a great form, you want to try and maximise that form however you can. And that is what we’ve been trying to do with Bumrah.

“But there comes a time where you need to step back a little bit and give him that little bit of extra breather as well. So, we’ve been very careful. I’ve been very careful.”

India’s second-stringers stood up admirably in Bumrah’s absence on Saturday, with Nitish Kumar Reddy and Prasidh Krishna taking four of the final five Australian wickets to fall (for 67 runs) after their captain left the field having bowled just a solitary over after the lunch break.

The gruelling nature of the Melbourne Test that Australia won in the final hour of day five took a toll on the home side too.

Mitchell Starc carried a rib or back niggle into this match and showed signs of soreness as Rishabh Pant took the long handle to Australia in what could prove a Test-turning knock late on day two.

Scott Boland, whose supreme campaign continued having now returned 19 victims at 14.42, conceded he was also feeling the effects after bowling more than 40 overs in a Test for the first time.

“I was pretty sore a couple of days after the game in Melbourne,” Boland told SEN on Saturday morning. “I had a little runaround the day before the game here in Sydney and thought, ‘Geez I feel sore’. Once I got moving, I felt much better.”

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), 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