Sunil Gavaskar Reveals Why He Missed The Birth Of His Son Rohan: The Indian skipper Virat Kohli has found himself at the receiving end of criticism after the Men in Blue lost the 3-match ODI series. While Virat Kohli and company are yet to participate in the 3-match T20I series and Test series to follow. After losing the 3-match ODI series, there are diminishing chances of Team India in the upcoming Test series as well, especially with the Indian skipper not being available for the final three matches.
Well, Virat has been granted paternity leave and he will head back to India after the first Test in Adelaide. However, Virat Kohli, who is married to Bollywood actress Anushka Sharma is expecting his first child n January while the first Test (Day-night) between India and Australia is scheduled to be played from December 17 – December 21 in Adelaide. And as the due date of Anushka is in January, Virat might miss out on a couple of test matches.
And ever since the news came out, a new debate has started on social media on whether Virat taking paternity leave is ok or not. Many former cricketers and experts have come out in support of Virat Kohli. The latest one to give his opinion on the matter is none other than the legendary Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar.
Well, recently in his column for Mid-day, former Indian skipper Sunil Gavaskar confirmed the rumors and also went on to reveal that he didn’t even ask permission to return back to his wife during the birth of his son. He said:
“While this is correct, the circumstances of that request were not quite made clear and so, here is an attempt to put the record straight. Firstly, I did not ask permission to return to be by my wife’s side for the birth.”
He further revealed that he was aware that his baby will come when he will be on the tour, however, this didn’t stop him from being there for his team as he was committed to playing for India. He said:
“When I left with the Indian team for the twin tour of New Zealand and the West Indies, I was aware that the baby would come while I was away. I was committed to playing for India and my wife backed me to the hilt,”
“The doctors advised a four-week break from the game for recovery. The next Test match was in the West Indies in about three weeks and since I wasn’t going to be able to play in the interim, I asked our manager, the legendary Polly Umrigar, if I could go back at my own expense for a few days and rejoin the team in the West Indies well ahead of the First Test.”
He also clarified that he never intended to miss a game unless he was injured. He said:
“So there was no question of me missing a Test match other than for injury. In fact, I played the first Test despite the doctor having advised another week’s rest”
