A day after Indian skipper Virat Kohli left the Indian cricket team to come back home to be with his wife Anushka Sharma during their pregnancy and to experience the birth of their first child, Virender Sehwag’s former coach AN Sharma slammed him for returning mid-series.

During a conversation with Sportskeeda’s Indranil Basu, Sharma criticised the captain’s decision to come back to India on paternity leave with a struggling squad of Men in Blue looking to sneak a win in the second Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

JUST IN: Virat Kohli will be granted paternal leave after the #AUSvIND Test in Adelaide. He will return to India after the first game. pic.twitter.com/EFQfajppbE

“Sehwag would have never returned from a tour. The game has given you everything. Sachin Tendulkar returned to play the World Cup (1999) within two days of his father’s death. I can give it to you in writing that Sehwag would have never returned as cricket comes first for him,” said Sharma.

“I don’t agree with Virat Kohli. He should have stayed with the team, he should have worked with the team and continued as the captain. He’s a brilliant captain and a brilliant cricketer,” he stated.

© Reuters

Kohli had already informed the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) about his plans of coming back to his family after playing the first Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and the Indian cricket board had already sanctioned the leave weeks before India’s tour Down Under began.

However, Sharma believes that with the massive game Kohli and the rest of the Indian cricketers got from the game during the lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic, going on another leave so soon is unjustified.

Paternity leave is a personal choice.. Period. #INDvsAUS #ViratKohli #PaternityLeave

“You can occasionally take a break from the sport when you are playing at the top level. Because of the COVID-19 situation, everything came to a halt and cricket just started. If anyone takes a break after such a long break then what’s the fun?” the coach asked.

View the full article