Alastair Cook likely to miss fourth Test at The Rose Bowl

As far as the five-match Test series between England and India is concerned, the Brits well and truly have the upper hand with a lead of 2-0. But India have made a stern statement and are on the brink of a victory in the third Test at Trent Bridge in Nottingham. For the first time in the series, the home team seems to have strained in order to get under the skins of Virat Kohli and his men.

The fourth Test is scheduled to be played from August 30 to September 3 at The Rose Bowl in Southampton. Ahead of the next contest, the Three Lions may be encountered with a massive blow as Alastair Cook, one of the most experienced batters in their lineup, is likely to miss the match to attend the birth of his third child as per reports in dailymail.co.uk.

Alice Hunt, his wife, is due to go into labour on August 30 and it has also been learned that the English team management is hoping the timing of the birth will allow Cook to make himself available for the match, which shaping to be a crucial contest. Alice and Cook tied the knots in 2011 and gave birth to their first child Elsie in 2014 after which their second daughter Isobel was born in 2016.

Cook going through a bad patch

Cook is in the middle of a turbulent phase of his Test career. In the ongoing Test series, the left-hander has only scored 63 runs in four innings at an average of 15.75. In his previous 24 innings, the Gloucester-born cricketer could only score 640 runs at 27.82, which included a double century against Australia at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Recently, Michael Atherton, the former English cricketer, slammed the experienced campaigner for his inconsistent performances. In the current Test, Cook perished to Ishant Sharma for 29 runs in the first innings and is currently not out on nine runs in the second innings as England look to chase down a mammoth 521 runs with two days remaining.

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