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AHMEDABAD: England paceman Steven Finn has failed to recover from a thigh injury and will miss the first Test against India, his captain Alastair Cook said on Wednesday.
The 23-year-old limped off the field with a right thigh strain in England’s first warm-up match at the end of October and is not fit enough to be considered for the opener of the four-match series starting in Ahmedabad on Thursday.
“Steven won’t be available for tomorrow’s Test match. He has made some fantastic progress with the injury, has come home better than we thought, but unfortunately he is not going to make it,” Cook told reporters.
“It’s too big a risk to go into a game in any test match, especially in these conditions, with a guy who is not 100 percent and hasn’t bowled.”The Middlesex paceman is considered key to England’s chances of enjoying a successful tour after impressing during a limited-overs series in India last year.
Vice-captain Stuart Broad, who suffered a bruised left heel during the second practice game, should be available for selection after bowling at full pace on Tuesday.Cook, who turns 28 next month, will lead England for the first time in tests on Thursday and he felt the tourists have had plenty of time to prepare for Indian conditions.
“Looking at this tour, we have said that we wanted to have as much practice as we could to get used to the conditions,” said the left-handed opener, who took over as skipper following Andrew Strauss’ retirement after the South Africa series.
“For the first time since I’ve been (coming) to the sub-continent, we’ve had three warm-up games.“It’s given us a chance not just to play the XI that we think is going to play in the first game, but it has given everyone a chance to get used to conditions. On that front, we have been really well prepared.
“Clearly we’d have liked to face more quality spinners in the middle but we can’t control that. What we have had available, we’ve had some excellent bowlers bowling at us in the nets.”
The 23-year-old limped off the field with a right thigh strain in England’s first warm-up match at the end of October and is not fit enough to be considered for the opener of the four-match series starting in Ahmedabad on Thursday.
“Steven won’t be available for tomorrow’s Test match. He has made some fantastic progress with the injury, has come home better than we thought, but unfortunately he is not going to make it,” Cook told reporters.
“It’s too big a risk to go into a game in any test match, especially in these conditions, with a guy who is not 100 percent and hasn’t bowled.”The Middlesex paceman is considered key to England’s chances of enjoying a successful tour after impressing during a limited-overs series in India last year.
Vice-captain Stuart Broad, who suffered a bruised left heel during the second practice game, should be available for selection after bowling at full pace on Tuesday.Cook, who turns 28 next month, will lead England for the first time in tests on Thursday and he felt the tourists have had plenty of time to prepare for Indian conditions.
“Looking at this tour, we have said that we wanted to have as much practice as we could to get used to the conditions,” said the left-handed opener, who took over as skipper following Andrew Strauss’ retirement after the South Africa series.
“For the first time since I’ve been (coming) to the sub-continent, we’ve had three warm-up games.“It’s given us a chance not just to play the XI that we think is going to play in the first game, but it has given everyone a chance to get used to conditions. On that front, we have been really well prepared.
“Clearly we’d have liked to face more quality spinners in the middle but we can’t control that. What we have had available, we’ve had some excellent bowlers bowling at us in the nets.”
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