Former skipper Ian Botham has implored England to rest fast bowler Stuart Broad for the third Test against India, which gets underway in Kolkata on Wednesday.

Botham labelled Broad, who is yet to take a wicket this tour, "tired" and "jaded" - and insisted seamer Steven Finn's return to fitness has afforded the tourists the ideal chance to rest their 26-year-old vice-captain.

"Stuart Broad is way off the mark at the moment. Why that is, I don't know. He hasn't actually performed for a little while now, by his own standards. He knows that - only he knows why," Botham told Sky Sports News.

"Maybe he just needs a break. He's a young lad - relatively young. He has had a lot of work over the last three or four years. Now is maybe the time to rest him. He is well down on his pace."

Finn, who sustained a thigh injury and missed the opening two fixtures of the four-match series, currently locked at one win apiece, has emerged as the leading candidate to replace his fellow right-armer.

"I think what Steven does bring to the side is a little bit more impetus and raw firepower. The seamers - all of them - have struggled a bit out there so far. Maybe Steven can blast a couple of wickets out," added Botham.

"But then the other seamers have done their job. They've stuck at it in pretty difficult conditions and you're not really expecting a seam bowler to get five or six wickets over there."