Quick's absence leaves Starc imprint in India

Despite being almost 10,000km away in another hemisphere, Mitchell Starc had an indirect yet profound impact on the third Test and one that could well re-emerge in the series decider in Dharamsala.

Starc was ruled out of the final two Tests of the Qantas Tour of India when scans taken in the wake of Australia's loss in Bengaluru revealed a fracture in his right foot.

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Without the left-armer charging in Australia lost not only their major strike weapon but also the footmarks he creates outside the right-hander's off-stump when he bowls over the wicket.

On a hard, flat pitch in Ranchi, the absence of the rough Starc creates with his injured right foot were noticeable and had a considerable bearing on the performances of off-spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Nathan Lyon.

Combined, the spin rivals claimed 3-348 in the third Test without any assistance from the rough Starc would usually generate.

Ashwin bowled 64 overs in Ranchi for a return of 2-185 while Lyon's 46 overs, bowled with a badly ruptured callus on his primary spinning finger, returned figures of 1-163.

The comparison with the two previous Tests in the series highlights the Starc-footmark factor: prior to the third Test, Aswhin had taken 15 wickets at 20.47 in two Tests while Lyon had 13 wickets at 15.85.

In stark contrast, India and the world's now outright No.1 bowler Ravindra Jadeja had a kennel's worth of rough to bowl into at Ranchi, which was churned up by the four right-arm fast bowlers who operated almost exclusively from the North End.

Jadeja claimed match figures of 9-178 from a mountainous 93.3 overs by darting his left-arm off-breaks into the hazardous footmarks over after over after over.

Australia's own southpaw spinner, Stephen O'Keefe, bowled a staggering 77 overs in India's first innings to pick up 3-199.

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With no Starc or left-arm fast bowler in either squad for the series finale at the foot of the Himalayas, Ashwin and Lyon could well again find it difficult to be effective.

Australia middle-order batsman Peter Handsomb faced the relentless pressure of Aswhin and Jadeja during his match-saving 72no on day five in Ranchi and noticed how the lack of rough affected the hosts' ace off-spinner.

But the Victorian has seen first-hand how balls can spin from anywhere depending on what kind of wicket is produced.

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"I guess the footmarks definitely came into play because, if you look at the stats from the game in Ranchi, I think from one end there were barely any spinning wickets – I think one to Nathan and one to Ashwin – because there was no rough out there," Handscomb said on Wednesday.

"And then from the other end Jadeja was able to create something out of that rough and so was 'SOK' (O'Keefe), so I guess the footmarks do come into play.

"They come around the wicket a lot to our left armers, which might create some rough, but we've seen wickets like Pune that spin from the middle of the wicket so we'll have to see what we get in Dharamsala."

Test Squads

India (for third and fourth Tests): Virat Kohli (c), Murali Vijay, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Wriddhiman Saha, Ravichandaran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Karun Nair, Jayant Yadav, Kuldeep Yadav, Abhinav Mukund, Mohammed Shami.

Australia: Steve Smith (c), David Warner (vc), Ashton Agar, Jackson Bird, Pat Cummins, Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Stephen O'Keefe, Matthew Renshaw, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Swepson, Matthew Wade.

Australia's schedule in India

Feb 23-27, First Test, Pune - Australia won by 333 runs.

Mar 4-8, Second Test, Bengaluru - India won by 75 runs.

Mar 16-20, Third Test, Ranchi - match drawn.

Mar 25-29, Fourth Test, Dharamsala