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Under-pressure opener Joe Burns has finished 51 not out in Adelaide, where he copped a blow to the elbow while finding form in the day-night Test.

Joe Burns' elbow has become the latest injury concern for Australia but the opener was quick to downplay fears he might have suffered serious damage during a confidence-boosting knock.

Burns copped a nasty blow to the arm during his unbeaten half-century at Adelaide Oval, where the batsman returned to form in an eight-wicket win.

The 31-year-old, whose woeful slump had been a talking point for over a month leading up to the first Test, required treatment late in Saturday's opening session after being hit by a ball from Jasprit Bumrah.

Burns continued to bat, finishing 51 not out, but admitted his arm was quite sore.

"I might numb it with a few beers tonight," he said.

Even with an additional two days off, Burns has limited time to recover for the Boxing Day Test if he has suffered even a minor setback.

"He's a very tough player," Josh Hazlewood said.

"It obviously blew up a fair bit straight away.

"We'll have a look at that tomorrow morning and get a scan and see what the results show. Fingers crossed."

David Warner (groin strain) and Will Pucovski (concussion) both remain in doubt for the second Test, having missed the day-night Test because of injuries.

Burns, who could have faced the axe if he failed in both innings, shared a post-match hug with coach Justin Langer.

Langer had backed the Queenslander, publicly and privately, throughout a rough trot in which he scored 62 runs from nine first-class knocks - including twin failures against India in a tour game.

The concerning numbers prompted former selector and captain Allan Border to declare Langer would be doing a disservice to the "shot" batsman by retaining him in the Test XI.

Burns almost doubled his run tally for 2020-21 with the breakthrough innings, also managing to outscore India's second innings by 15 runs.

'"I just wanted to keep fighting hard," Burns told Fox Sports.

"It's a really nice moment ... it feels bloody nice.

"I've been trying to keep it as simple as possible. I know I can do the basics well and make runs.

"JL (Langer) has been fantastic, the selectors sticking with me helps."

Burns brought up the winning runs when he hooked a short delivery from Umesh Yadav, with Bumrah dropping the catch and palming the ball over the rope.

"All cricketers know how hard it is when you're going through a run like that," captain Tim Paine said.

"To come out in Test match cricket and try and find your way out of it - it's a very, very difficult place to be.

"It will do his confidence the world of good."