Twitterati in meltdown as Virat Kohli decides to skip last three Tests in Australia

India captain Virat Kohli has caused quite a stir with his decision to skip the last three Tests in Australia for the birth of his first child. His wife Anushka Sharma is due to give birth to the couple’s first child in early January and thus he has decided to skip three of the four Tests in Australia. The series is scheduled to start on December 17 in Adelaide.

The BCCI, on Monday, confirmed that it has granted paternity leave to Kohli. The Indian cricket board in an official release confirmed that the captain had informed the board about his plans to return home for the birth of his first child. Before leaving Australia, Kohli will also lead the team in the ODI and the T20I series.

“At the selection committee meeting held on October 26th, 2020, Mr Virat Kohli had informed the BCCI about his plans to return to India after the first Test in Adelaide,” the BCCI said in a statement. “The BCCI has granted paternity leave to the Indian captain. He will return after the first Test against Australia in Adelaide.”

Missing Kohli for such a challenging series will definitely be a big blow for Team India. The India batting mainstay has a stunning track record in Australia. In 12 games so far, he has scored 1,274 runs at an average of more than 55 with the help of six hundreds and three fifties.

Not only that, but Kohli also became the first Indian captain to win a Test series in Australia when he led the team to a historic win during the 2018-19 series.

Fans’ reactions to Kohli’s decision:

Virat Kohli’s decision to skip the three Tests in Australia has sent the cricket world into meltdown. While one section of the fans is praising him for putting his family first, the other section is criticising him for not putting the country first. Some of the fans even reminded him of MS Dhoni’s decision in 2015 when the former India skipper was in Australia and missed the birth of his daughter Ziva.

Here are some of the reactions to Virat Kohli’s decision:

Just heard Kohli won't take part in 3 of 4 test matches against the aussies due to 'Paternity leave'. We will play without our best test batsman.

Then we had dhoni who didn't come back to India during the 2015 wc when ziva was born. Priorities matter. #INDvAUS #INDvsAUS

— Varun Garg 🇮🇳 (@IamV_Garg) November 9, 2020

This is not right.
Country first

— Gunjan Kwatra (@gunjan122) November 9, 2020

Being a professional athlete or sports person is probably one of the hardest things to do hey? Can’t really keep fans happy no matter what you do…. Indian having a go at Virat Kohli because he is set to miss a test match/series due to the birth of his first ever baby

— The Cricket Scholar🇿🇦 (@lue_balo) November 9, 2020

Sheer bad timing that Virat Kohli's baby is due just after the first test in Adelaide vs Australia.
Wish the baby was conceived just a month before so that Kohli only had to skip ODIs & T20Is because they are just another series but the Tests are part of World Test Championship.

— हर्ष श्रीवास्तव (@HarshOutlook) November 9, 2020

Respect for Kohli.

Family first every time.

— Dennis Pucovski (@DennisCricket_) November 9, 2020

Kohli is going to miss a few Tests and India goes into meltdown.

Australia played without Steve Smith for a whole year then went on to become number 1.

— Dennis Pucovski (@DennisCricket_) November 9, 2020

@imVkohli is returning to India after first test because he knows India is going down 4-0 and he doesn't want his captaincy record to take some beating. A guy who played for his team on the day of his father's funeral is now putting a baby over national duty. #Shame #ViratKohli

— Shubham Agrawal (@shubh_vachan) November 9, 2020

Woke up to the best news that @imVkohli has set a great example for all men, especially Indian. Dad’s have to be 50% of everything in welcoming a baby. You cannot, but you have to try and be as supportive as you can. Thank you for leading by example, Captain.

— UK (@motta_boss) November 9, 2020