The reactions surrounding Virat Kohli's paternity leave
New Delhi : India and Australia are scheduled to play against one another in a series of cricket matches across all formats. As it pushed through despite a pandemic outbreak, both Indian and Australian cricket fans are now more eager to wait for the games to finally kick-off.
Scheduled to start on November 27, the two teams are to partake in a bout comprising three ODIs, three T20Is, and four Tests. The team lineups had already been released and it has proved to be an interesting one so far. By simply looking at the lineup of both teams, fans are already guaranteed that the matches would really show intense action on the field.
Regardless of how intense this upcoming tour maybe, some Indian fans were dispirited that captain Virat Kohli will not be able to play for the last three games of the Test series. Aside from the limited-overs format, he will only play in the first Test match. This is because of his paternity leave which was already approved by the BCCI. Kohli’s absence in the tour will definitely have an effect on the latest cricket scores of the Test series.
With that, different reactions have surrounded the paternity leave of Kohli. Some of these are Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting and Australian commentator Michael Clarke. Here’s what they said:
Ricky Ponting: ‘India will feel that without Kohli there (for three Tests), for his batting and leadership, that’ll put all sorts of pressure on different players’.
‘I don’t think they’ll be clear in their own mind, even now, what their batting order will look like for the first Test. Who’s going to open, who’ll bat at four when Kohli goes?’, he added.
Michael Clarke: ‘These one-dayers and these Twenty20s is where Virat Kohli can really stand up and lead from the front. I think the tone he sets with this team will play a big role when he leaves, after the first Test match’.
‘If India doesn't have success in the one-dayers and the T20s, they are in deep trouble in the Test matches and they'll get smoked 4-0, in my opinion’, Clarke stated.
Despite the negative reactions surrounding Kohli’s leave, Australian player David Warner commends Kohli for taking the initiative to go home and be with his partner during the birth of their first child.
In a similar manner, India’s head coach Ravi Shastri backs up Kohli by saying that he made the right decision as these moments in life don’t come again. With that, he also added that this time may be a good opportunity for the other guys on their side.
Kohli would have to leave the team after the first Test as he needs to fly back to India and be quarantined upon his arrival. Then, he will accompany his wife, actress Anushka Sharma, as she gives birth to their first child in January 2021. For the meantime, cricket fans who are waiting for the latest cricket scores might have to watch either Ajinkya Rahane or Rohit Sharma to be the substitute Test captain.
