Josh Inglis Ruled Out of Fifth Border-Gavaskar Test Due to Injury

Australia suffеred a minor injury blow on the opening day of the Melbourne Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Wicketkeeper-batter Josh Inglis has beеn ruled out of the series due to a calf strain and will not play any further part in the remainder of the series, Cricket Australia confirmed on Sunday, 29 December.

Inglis is the other wicketkeeper in the squad, apart from Alex Carey, and he will leave a gap in the Australian side for the final Test at Sydney. This is a huge blow to the side. Although no replacement has been officially announced yet. Australia is likely to include either Beau Webster or Nathan McSweeney as a specialist batter.

Either McSweeney or Webster would bring options for Australia, especially if they elect not to play Mitchell Marsh in the final Test of the series. Marsh has fared poorly with the bat in the first four Tests against India being regularly dismissed and he hasn't bowled much as well.

Besides Inglis' injury, there are questions about Mitchell Starc's fitness. The pacer bowled through pain on Day 3 of the Boxing Day Test but did not take the field on Day 4. Other bowlers - Pat Cummins, Scott Boland, and Nathan Lyon - finished the job of taking India's final wicket in Starc's absence.

When asked about his fitness on Day 4, Starc said everything was fine. He had been suffering from a back problem while bowling on Day 3, but he dismissed the injury concerns, saying that he had been regularly bowling at 140 kph during his spells.

"All good. My pace didn't drop so I'm all good," Starc said.

The extent of Starc's injury remained uncertain at the end of Day 3. Scott Boland provided some reassurance stating that he believed Starc would be fine in the near future.

"He's okay. I think he's just had a bit of a niggle in his back or rib, but he came out after the (tea) break and was bowling 140 (kph) so I think he'll be fine," Boland told to journalists.

"Playing a Test match is pretty hard on your body and he's played all four Tests so far. I think he's just a little bit stiff in his back. I think he's underrated for how tough he is. A couple of years ago here at the MCG he had a broken finger and we were planning for him not to bowl at all – and then he came out and bowled 140k swingers," Boland added.

SEE ALSO: Watch: Jasprit Bumrah's Fired-Up Celebration After Dismissing Sam Konstas in Day 4