India captain Virat Kohli has returned to the national squad after taking a parental leave after the Adelaide Test in Australia. The Delhi-lad was blessed with a baby girl in the second week of January. He spent more than a month with his wife Anushka and their baby before joining Team India again.
Ahead of the ongoing first Test against England at MA Chidambaram stadium in Chennai, Kohli spoke about embracing the challenge of parenthood. The 32-year-old said he adapts pretty well to situations, and learning to change diapers is not problematic for him.
“Luckily, as a cricketer, I have become someone who adapts pretty well to situations and Ravi Bhai would know that. To understand how to change diapers, learning all those things wasn’t tough because I was keen to learn. I wouldn’t say I have mastered it, but I am very, very comfortable with everything I have learned so far and I wanted to. For me, learning to change diapers is not difficult. I wanted to learn,” Kohli told Star Sports.
India coach Ravi Shastri, who was sitting beside Kohli, lauded the Indian skipper stating that he has handled success and failure nicely and will similarly handle fatherhood.
“The way he has evolved, you knew he was an uncut diamond there. You got to have the ups and downs, and feel the head and have success and failures. He has handled that beautifully and I am sure he will handle fatherhood as well in a similar manner,” said Shastri.
During the chat, Kohli admitted that he was a ‘bit anxious’ initially when India faced an embarrassing loss in the first Test Down Under, but relaxed after the players bounced back in the second Test at Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).
“I will be very honest, before the Melbourne Test, I was a bit anxious but then the way the whole team played in Melbourne. I was cheering every ball… jumping up from the couch every now and then. Probably not as loud as I am on the field, but still the cheers were loud enough for the staff to be heard everywhere in the house,” added Kohli.
