Virat Kohli’s absence for three Tests in the series against Australia due to paternity leave has hurt even the broadcasters.
Virat Kohli will not be part of three Tests in India’s tour of Australia in December and January as he will be on paternity leave. After playing the Pink Ball Test in Adelaide, Virat Kohli will leave for India to be with his wife Anushka Sharma as he becomes a father. With the coronavirus protocol requiring 14 days of isolation in Australia, Kohli was certain to miss the Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane Tests. The decision of Virat Kohli to leave the Australian series has drawn mixed reactions from Indian and foreign audiences. While the decision of Kohli has possibly given the hosts a great chance to win the series, they are also losing out in a big way.
The reason? Australia’s broadcasters are set to face a big financial loss in the absence of Virat Kohli. Cricket Australia has a complicated relationship with regards to the broadcasting of the India series. Fox Sports will telecast the ODIs and T20Is while Channel 7 will telecast the Test series. The catch here will be that Channel 7 and Fox will both telecast the Pink Ball Test.
Fox Sports will telecast majority of Virat Kohli in action while Channel 7 could have less than five days. The current situation has forced Seven West Media, that owns Channel 7 chairman to blast Cricket Australia in an interview. “The company paid a lot of money for a quality product that was not delivered to us. They have not even offered us anything in return to make it up,” Kerry Stokes told The Age newspaper
Losses for others, not for Fox
On the other hand, Fox Sports CEO Steve Crawley told The Australian newspaper that the schedule and Fox Sports’ broadcast was all an ‘accidental coup’. “To have those six games in November exclusively on Fox Cricket is a massive thing for us and our greatest ever challenge. Our greatest ever triumph already is to have him exclusively,” Crawley said.
Virat Kohli’s presence for the Pink Ball Test in Adelaide is already been labelled a ‘blockbuster’ after his absence for the remainder of the three Tests. Adelaide Oval is a special venue for Virat Kohli, having hit three centuries including centuries in both innings in 2014. He also has a century in the World Cup 2015 clash against Pakistan as well as against Australia in 2019. Virat Kohli has also helped India win the 2018 Test in Adelaide by 31 runs.
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