Kohli’s big call stuns Border
AUSTRALIAN cricket legend Allan Border has expressed his surprise at Virat Kohli’s decision to abandon India’s tour midway through the Test series to be present for the birth of his first child.
Kohli will feature in the six white-ball fixtures starting this month and the first Test in Adelaide before flying home to India where wife Anushka Sharma is due to give birth in early January.
Border told Fox Sports News he’d been caught off guard by the Kohli announcement, revealing a recent conversation with Indian great Sunil Gavaskar, who had insisted his availability all series was in no doubt.
“I’m a little surprised by the news because I was talking to Sunny Gavaskar not so long ago and he said to not worry and ‘tell your fans not to worry about Virat Kohli – he’ll be there for the whole summer’,” Border explained.
“I’m a little surprised he’s heading home, but it’s just the way of the world now. You want to be there for the birth of your children.”
Border missed the births of two of his four children, including his first – son Dene – when he was in the Caribbean on a Test tour.
Fellow champion Australian batsman Matthew Hayden nearly missed the birth of daughter Grace – before being talked out of playing a one-day clash against Pakistan in Melbourne by a good friend.
“He said ‘ mate, you’re mad,
surely your heart can’t be in it … just go home’. And he was right,” Hayden said.
Hayden jumped on a flight to Brisbane, arrived at 7pm that night and was there when wife Kellie went into labour shortly after midnight.
“In those days it wasn’t really done, but if I hadn’t jumped on that plane, I would’ve missed it. Beyond cricket is a life,” Hayden said.
Border accepted times have changed, but said the idea of leaving a tour to witness a birth simply wouldn’t register among the playing group in his era.
“It was something that was never discussed,” he added.
“If you happened to be on tour with the Australian cricket team, you didn’t even think about not staying on the tour.
“I’m not sure when (that mindset) changed.
“But certainly now there’s not many guys who won’t leave a tour or not go on a tour because of the impending birth of children.
“The girls did it a bit tougher, maybe, in those days. It’s a sad thing to miss so I can understand where Virat’s coming from.”