Was T Natarajan not given paternity leave? Sunil Gavaskar reveals ‘double standards’ in column

In the Indian cricket team, the term paternity leave has drawn some mixed reactions from many fans. Virat Kohli, who is expected to become a father in the first week of January 2021, will miss the remaining three Tests against Australia as he is on paternity leave which was granted by the BCCI. In the middle of an important Australia tour, Virat Kohli’s paternity leave has left fans deeply divided after the Indian cricket team was shot out for a woeful 36 in the second innings of the Adelaide Test on December 19. Heading into the Melbourne Test, the captaincy of the Indian cricket team has now shifted to Ajinkya Rahane.

However, there are reports now that T Natarajan, the Tamil Nadu left-arm pacer who played for Sunrisers Hyderabad in IPL 2020 and made his debut for India against Australia, was not granted paternity leave during the tournament. Sunrisers Hyderabad made it to the IPL 2020 playoffs where they lost to Delhi Capitals in Qualifier 2 and T Natarajan’s exploits resulted in his selection for the Indian cricket team.

However, T Natarajan was part of the bio-bubble in the UAE and he had to shift to the bio-bubble in Australia as the Indian team were in a 14-day mandatory quarantine due to the coronavirus pandemic. Before the IPL, T Natarajan had become a father and he was not given permission for paternity leave as he was part of the back-up bowling unit for the Australia tour. Sunil Gavaskar, writing in his column for Sportstar, has slammed the double standards of the Indian cricket team management and said there were different rules for different people.

“Another player who will wonder about the rules, but, of course, can’t make any noise about it as he is a newcomer. It is T. Natarajan. The left-arm yorker specialist who made an impressive debut in the T20 and had Hardik Pandya gallantly offering to share the man of the T20 series prize with him had become a father for the first time even as the IPL playoffs were going on. He was taken to Australia directly from UAE and then looking at his brilliant performances, he was asked to stay on for the Test series but not as a part of the team but as a net bowler. Imagine that. 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,” Gavaskar wrote.

No paternity leave even for Gavaskar

Sunil Gavaskar was also a victim of not getting paternity leave when India had toured the West Indies in 1976. Gavaskar was not granted permission by the Indian Board to come back to India for the birth of his son and that disappointed him.

Virat Kohli gave a strong message to the Indian cricket team to bounce back after they were bowled out for 36 in Adelaide, which was their lowest Test total in their 88-year history. The second Test will be played on December 26 and it will be the marquee Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.