India skipper Virat Kohli will be returning home after the first test against Australia. kohli and Anushka are expecting their first child and the captain has been granted the maternity leave.
Talking about the same, former India captain Kapil Dev said that kohli can “afford” to take the leave.
“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 said while speaking via video conference at HTLS 2020.
“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 is that he’s having a baby,” he said.
Sunil Gavaskar though said that it might be a chance for other players to up their game when Kohli is not around.
“If you actually have a look, India have won every time Virat wasn’t there, be it the Dharamshala Test against Australia, the Afghanistan Test, Nidahas Trophy or the Asia Cup in 2018. Indian players do tend to raise their game when he is not around. They understand they have to make up for his absence,” Gavaskar told TOI on Friday.
