Boof hands to 'Lex' after horror day

"Good luck, Lex!"

A cheeky remark from Darren Lehmann to Bupa Support Team physiotherapist Alex Kountouris as he passed the baton over for press conference duties indicated just how crowded Australia's casualty ward was at the end of day one of this second Commonwealth Bank Test.

Lehmann and Kountouris fronted the media together at the close of play after India had moved to 4-311 at stumps, with the tourists' cause no doubt helped by the four Australian fast bowlers who left the field during the day with various ailments.

So lengthy is Australia's injury list that Kountouris's press conference lasted longer than Lehmann's on a day Australia were a clear second best.

Related: Clarke's hamstring surgery a success

With his patients waiting in the rooms to be treated, Kountouris answered all the questions that came his way.

How's Mitchell Marsh?

"He's got a low grade hamstring strain on his right leg. He's unlikely (to bowl again in this match). He's going to have a scan, we'll try and get him on the field tomorrow and hopefully have him batting."

Mitchell Starc?

"His back was sore and he was getting some rib pain. We haven't had a chance to fully assess that. It's not a side strain and we don't think it's going to be anything that'll stop him bowling, but we'll have to look at it tonight."

Josh Hazlewood?

"He had cramp all over his body. With every ball he bowled he was cramping up in multiple places. He'll recover overnight and we'll see how he wakes up tomorrow. We expect him to bowl tomorrow."

Mitchell Johnson?

"He's OK, he's just generally sore but he's fine. He'll bowl tomorrow."

Is that it?

"I've lost track," he said with a smile. "I think that's it."

After the day Australia had, sometimes all you can do is laugh.

"I haven't experienced that as a coach, or seen it as a player," Lehmann said.

"It was an eventful day, which is exactly why that man (Kountouris) is here (at the press conference).

"It would have been nice to have a full contingent out on the park the whole day, but that's what it is sometimes.

"Hopefully it doesn't happen again."

On a stifling day where temperatures hovered in the mid-30s and there was no wind to speak of, Kountouris said some of the injuries were to be expected.

But he remained optimistic that, Marsh aside, the injuries would not hamper Australia's push for victory over the next four days.

However, the injury to Marsh is a concern.

Image Id: ~/media/81AF9EB431C942A1AA52C45B4714E654

The allrounder has a long history of hamstring complaints, including a serious tear to his left hamstring in 2012 that required surgery.

The good news is this latest injury, which Kountouris says is "mild", is to his right hamstring.

Bowling from the Vulture St end just after lunch, Marsh grimaced and pulled up short in his follow through, before he put his head in his hands and was comforted by brother Shaun.

He left the field and didn't return, a sour end to a day that included his first Test wicket.

After the high of Australia's thrilling win in Adelaide, Kountouris said today had was a sobering reminder of just how tough the game can be.

"Test cricket is brutally hard," Kountouris said.

"You don't have substitutes in cricket so you don't have the luxury of guys coming on and off the field.

"I think the difficulty of today was it was day one.

"We would probably cop this if it was day three or day four. This makes the next four days very, very long.

"That's the hard part about it. We've had a lot of hard days in the past, but today it all happened on day one and that makes it harder.

"Most of those things aren't too bad.

"Mitch Marsh is obviously an injury that we're worried about but the rest we're hopeful they'll be OK and they'll be able to contribute in the game."

Despite the heat and the long injury list, Lehmann wasn't making any excuses for his bowlers, who he said were "very poor" in the final session of the day.

"(India) outplayed us today and we've got to get back into the game," Lehmann said.

"Obviously it was very hot, we understand that as a group and as a team.

"But we've got to be better than that. In the last session we went for 160 in 30 overs, which is not what we're about. We've got to get better than that."

"From our point of view, we don't want any injuries.

"But we've got to cope with it and we've got to cope with it better than we did today."