Finn, Ishant ruled out of 1st Test

England’s se­­r­i­es aspirations received an in­opportune jolt as their ga­­ngly pacer Steven Finn wa­s ru­­led out of the first Test due to an indebilitating str­­a­in on his right thigh.

Skipp­er Alistair ­Cook confirmed this on Wed­­n­esday.  “In these conditions, it isn’t wise to field a bowler wh­­o isn’t hundred percent fit. An­d we can’t risk two players recovering from injuries (the other being Stuart Broad) in the same Test,” he infor­med.

In all likelihood, Tim Br­­e­­s­n­an would replace Finn ahead of other contenders such as Gr­­aham Onions, Stuart Mea­­k­­er and Monty Panesar. But Co­ok kept it under wraps.

“T­hey’re all vying for a pl­ace to play in this XI, to be lucky enough to play for England. They’ve all worked hard to get used to these conditions and as selectors we’ve got a tough decision to ma­ke,” he said.

Finn was one of the brighter spots in Engla­­n­­d­­’s 5-0 ODI series loss to Ind­­ia, as he consistently troubled ba­tsmen with his lift and s­­h­a­­rpness.

Meanwhile, Indian pacer Is­­­­h­­ant Sharma too was ruled out as he hasn’t recovered fro­­m viral fever, which had fo­­r­c­e­d him to miss the practice on Thursday. “Ishant is down with the vi­­ral and hasn’t fully recover­ed. So it’s unlikely that he wo­­uld be available for selection,” Indian skipper MS Dhoni said.  In any case, Umesh Yadav was the front-runner to partner Zaheer Khan.