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South Africa's pace great Dale Steyn has backed India's batting maestro Virat Kohli amid all the talks around his unavailability in the ongoing Test series against England. Kohli missed the first two Tests due to personal reasons and is expected to miss the remaining matches of the series as well.
Many speculations have been made about the reason for Kohli's absence. One reason was his mother being unwell, but the rumors were declared false by his brother, Vikas Kohli. Another reason was AB De Villiers saying that Kohli was expecting his second child, which seemed to answer the question. However, with De Villiers retracting earlier today, there is still speculation regarding why the star batter is not available.
Fans divided on Kohli's absence
Fans have stood divided over Kohli's call. While some are critical about this decision of the superstar to miss a series of such magnitude, Kohli has had no lack of support from his peers, Steyn being one of them. Dale Steyn and Virat Kohli were teammates at Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) during the Indian Premier League (IPL) as well.
Steyn comes to Kohli's rescue
"Family is your most important priority. Sorry, that's it. That's the end of the story right there. I've got three dogs and when one of them got sick, I was out of the IPL. I was jumping on the plane out of there to come back and see my dog. So that's my family. If Virat Kohli has decided to sit back home because he wants to be with his wife, if he's going to have his second child, I don't see any problem with that. He's been a servant of India for many years. He's won a World Cup; he's captained with success. I don't know what more a man can do to prove himself in the cricketing world," Steyn told Hindustan Times in an interaction.
There has been absolutely no movement at Kohli's end. He has not been active on Instagram, which is all the more reason why his fans are worried. People have prayed for his well-being on X, Facebook, and Instagram. Even during the birth of his first child when he left Australia during the 2020-21 Border Gavaskar Trophy, the fans were aware of his decision. However, this time everyone is unaware.
Steyn wasn't aware of his former South Africa teammate De Villiers' U-turn, but when he did, the former fast bowler decided not to address him and instead shifted his focus on Kohli.
"I think at the end of the day, it doesn't really matter about cricket. What matters is why you're playing and who helped you get there. The people behind you or behind the scenes, are the ones the public doesn't see. Your partner, your mother, your wife, your sister… those are the people that are constantly picking you up and if it means that their health is in jeopardy or something is wrong with them, you go to them and that's the most important thing," pointed out Steyn.
Cricket fans and players across the world would be waiting for an update on Kohli and when they can see the megastar of cricket come back for India. Meanwhile the third Test between India and England will start from February 15 in Rajkot.
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