Legendary Indian cricketer, Sunil Gavaskar criticized the Indian team management for having “different rules for different players” citing the example of the fast bowler T Natarajan and skipper Virat Kohli. Natarajan came to Australia straight from the IPL 2020 in the UAE as a replacement for the injured Varun Chakravarthy for which he had to miss the birth of his first child last month as he had to board the flight to Australia for the T20Is.
The team management then asked the fast bowler to stay for the Test series as a net bowler which means he will get to return home and see his daughter for the first time only after the four-match series ends on January 19.
On the other hand, the Indian skipper, Virat Kohli got approval on his paternity leave so that he could be with his wife Anushka Sharma during the birth of their first child, who is due in January next year. Virat came back to India on December 22 after playing the first Test in which his team suffered a humiliating loss by 8 wickets in the Adelaide pink-ball Test and conceded a 1-0 lead to the hosts.
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Talking about the same in his column, Gavaskar wrote: “(T Natarajan) had become a father for the first time even as the IPL playoffs were going on. He was asked to stay on for the (Australia) Test series but not as a part of the team but as a net bowler. Imagine that. A match-winner, albeit in another format, being asked to be a net bowler.”
He further added, “He will thus return home only after the series ends in the third week of January and get to see his daughter for the first time then. And there is the captain (Virat Kohli) going back after the first Test for the birth of his first child.”
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Kohli’s deputy in Tests, Ajinkya Rahane will be leading the Indian team in the remaining three Tests in his absence. The second Test is scheduled in Melbourne from December 26 followed by matches in Sydney and Brisbane.
