NZ vs WI 2020: Kane Williamson could take parental leave and miss games for New Zealand
New Zealand captain Kane Williamson has refused to rule out taking parental leave following the birth of his child, which would force him to miss some of his country's matches against the West Indies and Pakistan.
Williamson recorded a career-best of 251 runs in the first Test of the two-match series against the West Indies. New Zealand declared after scoring 519 runs in the first innings to take control of the game.
After the conclusion of the second day's play, the New Zealand skipper was asked about his availability for his country's upcoming matches.
Williamson's partner Sarah Raheem is due to give birth sometime this month. The batsman revealed that the baby is due in mid to late December. The player was non-committal about his availability for the upcoming games and said that he would cross that bridge at a later time.
"It's sort of wait and see thing. It's a very exciting time in anybody's life, and certainly in mine, so we're just going to cross that bridge when we can and see how things unfold. It's very difficult to pre-plan anyway these sorts of things," said Kane Williamson when asked about going on paternity leave.
Kane Williamson could make the same decision as Virat Kohli regarding paternity leave
If Kane Williamson decides to pull out of New Zealand's upcoming games against the West Indies or Pakistan, he will be following the example set by Virat Kohli.
The Indian captain will return to India after the first Test against Australia as his wife is due to give birth this month. Kohli's decision led to a huge discussion about paternity leave but was supported by many in the cricketing community.
Beating West Indies and Pakistan is crucial to New Zealand's hopes of making it to next year's ICC World Test Championship final. If Kane Williamson were to miss the upcoming games, it would certainly be a big blow to the team's ambitions.