‘Tail takes pride in scoring runs’ – Mitchell Starc

In the first Test, the bowlers gave them a fighting chance with the bat, and in the second Test in Perth, they helped post a target that took it away from India. Being able to contribute with the bat was something the tail took pride in, fast bowler Mitchell Starc has said.

"It's something that we all work really hard at and we have done for a long time,” said Starc, who added 36 for the last wicket with Josh Hazlewood in their second innings in Perth.

“Pat [Cummins] is obviously fantastic at No.8. He plays a bit more like a batter than the other three of us. He can bat for long periods of time. It just showed in Adelaide [in the first Test] how many balls he can face and really he looks comfortable at the crease.

“Those partnerships make India bowl a lot more overs and then the other three of us we just try and hang around a bit and score a few runs and face a few balls.

"It's something our tail takes a lot of pride in. And then with the ball we're trying to do the exact opposite for them and try to get them out really quickly.”

Australia have named an unchanged 13-member squad for the Melbourne Test starting Boxing Day, despite concerns over the bowlers’ workloads. The hosts went in with four bowlers in both Tests – three quicks and spinner Nathan Lyon – and Starc insisted that the formula works well.

“Whether we go with five bowlers or four ... you’ve got Nathan Lyon there doing as well as he has done for a long time,” he said.

“It makes our job a lot easier because he’ll bowl a lot of overs and he’ll either not go for runs or he’ll keep taking wickets so for the other three of us to come on at the other end – if it’s just four of us – it’s something we’ve done for a while now.

“We’ve done it for NSW [New South Wales], done it over the years as a group of four. We’re probably a few of the more experienced guys in the group now. We’ve learnt along the way and it’s fantastic the last two weeks how we’ve gelled together again as a group of four.”