Namely, the absence of the allrounder has the potential to impact the flow of Australia’s aging pace attack, with an increased burden of performance against India.
“It’s always going to change the dynamic when you take a real all-rounder like Cameron Green, or with England when you take out Ben Stokes,” Starc said. “When you have that real player who has been part of the team for a long time … you get into the habit of having an extra bowling option.
“I don’t know what the roster’s going to be, there’s a lot of talk about the opening and Mitch. [Marsh] bowling again.
“It’s not a complete outfielder. We’ve had series before where we didn’t have an all-rounder at all.
“We had to take on one of those jobs, along with Gaz [Nathan Lyon] maybe it should throw a little more.”
Hazlewood will play in the Blues’ next game against Queensland, while Starc will be rested.
Australia have five Tests in seven weeks against India, the longest gap being the ten-day break between the series opener in Perth and the second Test in Adelaide.
Starc said Australia’s bowlers have always taken an extended team approach, with several factors coming down to whether the work of the first-choice team is handled.
“That’s been the mindset for many years now, with an overseas tour or a home series and the mindset of how tough the summer or the series can be,” Starc said. “It is said, if you have four or five Tests that last four days, an extra day between games [can be important].
“Obviously there is a big gap between the first and second Test and the third and fourth Test. That might be a part too.
“We don’t know what wickets we will get, we don’t know how successful or unsuccessful we will be.”
Starc, Cummins, Hazlewood and Lyon played unchanged in the last four Test Border-Gavaskar series at home in 2020-21. They did the same in a five-Test home summer last season, with Australia losing the final Test at the Gabba on both occasions.
“There are too many things to sit here in the beginning and say this is going to happen,” said Starc. “But there are times when you feel the grinding of five tests.”
A week after blazing two tons against South Australia, Konstas shared a session with Steve Smith on Friday at NSW training. While Starc will not be drawn on whether Konstas’ time has come this summer, he has seen enough to believe the young talent can succeed.
“There is no reason [for him] not to do [handle it],” Starc said. “Obviously he’s got talent, he’s got a great work ethic, he’s a lovely guy.
“Time will tell. If he’s not selected this summer, I’m sure running on the board will help him in the long run.”
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