England v India: Steven Finn losing fitness battle ahead of opening Test while team will gamble on Stuart Broad "The one thing you would say if there was a realistic chance of Finny playing then he would have had a long bowl today," said Matt Prior. It is a setback. The coach and captain would want to choose from every player out here but we have a lot of strength in depth. It is the one thing that has made our squad so strong over the last couple of years. If Finny is not available then a guy can step in and do as good a job and that is way we are looking at it. That guy is likely to be Tim Bresnan although the option of pairing Monty Panesar with Graeme Swann cannot be totally ruled out. Bresnan's presence strengthens the batting and his bowling could be more effective at containing Indian batsmen well set than the type of finger spin they have played all their lives. Kevin Pietersen suffered what looked like a painful blow on the hand while practising his gully catching with the coaching staff but had clearly recovered when he batted hitting one of the local spin bowlers out of the net area. The Diwali celebrations in the city are being partly blamed for the low gate of around 4,000 expected on the first day in a stadium which holds 54,000, although it is a clearer indication of the popularity of Test cricket with the paying punters.