Virat Kohli’s parental leave has been the hot topic of discussion ever since Kohli announced the same out in public. India will be playing three test matches without Kohli and this has garnered various kinds of reactions already. Former Indian skipper Kapil Dev has now shared his thoughts on the same. On Day 2 of the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit, the former Indian skipper shared his point of view on the call made by captain Kohli.
Kapil Dev spoke to Hindustan Times Leadership Summit about India’s upcoming tour against Australia. In the same reference, the topic of Kohli’s parental leave came up. Speaking to senior sports journalist Ayaz Menon Dev said how things have changed regarding taking leaves in cricket. He shared a story on how another former Indian skipper Sunil Gavaskar did not see his son Rohan for months.
Kapil Dev on Virat Kohli’s Parental 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 Dev said in the summit.
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He spoke about how affordable it is for players today to have private jets for their personal reasons. He further added how players can go back home and return and play their next match and how things have become so easy these days.
“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 said.
Meanwhile, Ajinkya Rahane will be leading India in the last three Tests in the absence of Kohli. His absence from the Test series had also resulted in former cricketers having divided opinions on the end result of the series.
While Ricky Ponting and Allan Border believe that Australia have the upper hand in the absence of Kohli, Gavaskar believes that his absence is an opportunity for Indian players to step up their game.
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