Steve Smith Finally Reacts To Virat Kohli's Paternity Leave During Border-Gavaskar Series

Australia star Steve Smith has finally reacted to Virat Kohli’s decision of not playing three Tests of the upcoming Border-Gavaskar series. The India skipper will skip the games in order to return home to attend the birth of his first child. Anushka Sharma is expected to give birth in early January.

The BCCI has already granted paternity leave to the 32-year old. He will leave Australia soon after the first Test in Adelaide ends. In normal circumstances, Virat Kohli would have managed to return to Australia after attending the birth of his child. But due to the strict quarantine rules in Australia, he would not get the time to be play the latter Tests in Australia.

Virat Kohli’s decision has drawn mixed reactions from the cricketing world. While one half has supported his decision, the other half has criticised him for not prioritising the nation. Former Australia skipper Steve Waugh had also expressed his surprise over the India skipper’s decision.

However, Steve Smith has made it clear that he fully supports the batsman for his decision. Steve Smith, in fact, lauded Kohli’s decision to be with his family during the birth of his first child. The former Australia skipper admitted that Kohli’s absence will be a big loss for India but quickly pointed out that the he also has a life outside cricket.

“No doubt, it’s a big loss for India. Virat is a world-class player. I think you got to give him some credit, we all know how much he loves playing in Australia. But he is also a human being. He has got a life outside of cricket, a family that is starting,” Steve Smith told the press on Thursday.

“Credit to him for wanting to be there for the birth of his first child. We know how much he loves playing in Australia, how good he is, but like I said, credit should go to him for wanting to be there,” he added.

In Kohli’s absence, Ajinkya Rahane will lead the Indian side in the last 3 Tests. Rahane has started his tour on a fine note as scored an unbeaten hundred in the first practice game at the Drummoyne Oval in Sydney earlier this week.

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