Kapil Dev Reacts To Virat Kohli Taking Paternity Leave

The much-awaited Indian tour of Australia is still a few days away but, as always, charismatic batsman, Virat Kohli has been raking up all the headlines. But this time the headlines aren’t related to Kohli’s brilliant record Down Under or any statement that he has made in the lead-up to the series.

It is around a decision that the Indian skipper has taken, something that is not only set to impact the ‘Men in Blue’ in their pursuit of doing an encore of their 2018-19 heist, where they became the first Asian team to beat Australia in their own den, it is also set to impact Cricket Australia and the host broadcasters, who had been banking on the ‘Virat Kohli brand’ to promote the entire series.

And, that decision is that he’ll return home following the completion of the first Test of the four-match series in order to be with his wife, Anushka Sharma, who is due to deliver the couple’s first baby in January. Kohli will miss the last three Tests and his decision has received mixed reactions.

While some fans have been left disappointed, a majority of them have come out to support the Indian captain. Virat Kohli has also received major support from former and current cricketers, according to whom, the family must always take precedence over everything.

The latest to join the bandwagon is former Indian World Cup-winning skipper, Kapil Dev. The former all-rounder, during an interaction with Ayaz Menon at Hindustan Times Leadership Summit, expressed his happiness at the fact that cricketers these days have reached a level where they can afford to take leaves and be with their family during such important times, something he recalled wasn’t the case during his playing days as he cited the example of his former teammate, Sunil Gavaskar, who couldn’t meet his son for months since he was on national duty.

Kapi Dev further added that Virat Kohli had turned up to play even on the day his father passed away and so he deserved to take a break and be with his wife at the time of the birth of his first baby.

Don’t think we could afford to go and come back. That’s for sure. Sunil Gavaskar didn’t see his son for many months. It was a different thing. Look, things change. If I talk about Kohli, when his father died, he came back playing cricket the next day. Today he is taking a leave for his baby. It’s fine, you can afford it,” Kapil Dev said.

You can buy a plane and go back and come back again in three days. I feel happy and proud that today sportsmen have reached a level where they can do this. I’m happy for Virat. He’s coming back to see his family. I understand you have passion but the biggest passion in that he’s having a baby,” he added.

Also Read- Kapil Dev Explains What Virat Kohli Needs To Do To Become An Even More Dangerous Batsman