"I would have not even married if I were in his place"- 5 cricket experts who expressed their unhappiness over Virat Kohli's personal life decisions
Virat Kohli is one of the greatest cricketers of all time. The former Indian skipper has aggregated over 20,000 runs and smashed 70 hundreds in international cricket so far.
Kohli is also the all-time leading run-scorer in Indian Premier League history. Having achieved so much success and attained the status of one of the top cricketers in the world, Kohli has always been a talking point in cricketing circles.
Everyone has an opinion on Kohli's personal as well as professional decisions. While most cricket experts comment only on his professional career, the following five were not satisfied with some of Virat Kohli's personal life decisions.
#1 Shoaib Akhtar
During one of his interviews with Dainik Jagran last year, Shoaib Akhtar said that he would not have gotten married during his prime if he were a cricketer like Virat Kohli. The former Indian skipper tied the knot with Anushka Sharma in December 2017.
Commenting on Virat's disappointing performances in recent matches, Akhtar had said:
"I would have not even married if I were in his place. I had just scored runs and enjoyed cricket, these 10-12 years of cricket are different time and doesn’t come again." [sic]
#2 AN Sharma was not happy with Virat Kohli
Former Indian captain Virender Sehwag's coach AN Sharma was not happy with the way Virat decided to take paternity leave during India's Australian tour in 2020/21. Kohli returned from Australia after the first Test and missed the last three Tests of the series.
In an exclusive chat with Sportskeeda two years ago, AN Sharma expressed his unhappiness over Virat's personal life decision and said:
“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."
#3 Sunil Gavaskar
Virat Kohli's paternity leave was a major talking point during the 2020/21 Border/Gavaskar Trophy. While most fans backed Kohli, Sunil Gavaskar pointed out how there were different rules for different players in the team.
Net bowler T Natarajan's wife was going to become a mother as well during that time, but the left-arm fast bowler stayed in Australia with the Indian squad. Sharing his views on the situation, Gavaskar wrote in his column for Sporstar:
"A match-winner, albeit in another format, being asked to be a net bowler. 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 going back after the first Test for the birth of his first child. That’s Indian cricket. Different rules for different people."
#4 Dilip Doshi
Another former Indian cricketer who was unhappy with Virat Kohli's decision to leave the Australian tour after the first Test was Dilip Doshi. He said that national duty should always remain a priority for all individuals.
Speaking with Sportskeeda, Doshi said that he would not have left the Australian series midway if he were in that situation.
#5 Sunil Dev
Team India manager Sunil Dev said: wife's are ok but girlfriends with cricketers on tours is against Indian culture http://t.co/0fIcn4IDAl
Former Delhi wicket-keeper Sunil Dev became Team India's manager in June 2014. The Indian team traveled to England for a Test series later that year, and Virat Kohli was reportedly accompanied by his then-girlfriend Anushka Sharma.
India lost the series 1-3, and Virat's performance was not impressive. After the Test series loss, Dev said that girlfriends coming to foreign tours was against Indian culture.
"I would have objected to her (Anushka Sharma's) presence, but was helpless when I realised that permission was granted by BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) secretary Sanjay Patel," Dev had said in an interview with Mid-day.
Despite all the controversies, Kohli continues to be one of the most-loved cricketers in the world today.