Former India wicket-keeper Farokh Engineer has lashed out at fans who are trolling skipper Virat Kohli, for taking a paternity leave during the tour of Australia. The 32-year-old left the team after the day-night Test against the Aussies, to be with his wife Anushka Sharma, who is due to give birth in January. But Engineer is of the view that Kohli has just made a personal decision.

“I disagree with that (trolling Virat Kohli). Why would you troll someone? He has made a personal decision to be with his wife to have the first child, which is not too unfair to ask for,” Engineer was quoted as saying to Sportskeeda.

Engineer went on to say that even though if he was in a similar situation, he would have chosen to stay, but there's nothing wrong in what Kohli has done. “I have got four children. I wasn’t there for any of their births. I was always playing international cricket for India. The Queen, in fact, gave me the message of my first child’s birth in the long room at Lord’s. So, in my time it didn’t happen. That doesn’t mean that it shouldn’t happen now.

“But personally, I would have rather played for India especially with India not having done so well in the first match. My thought would have been for my country. But I don’t blame Virat Kohli for being with his family. This is the modern trend. I think it’s just an age difference,” he added.

Many believed that it would be difficult for the Indians to do well without Kohli, after they were bundled out for 36 in first Test. But after that, under the leadership of Ajinkya Rahane, India staged a remarkable comeback to level the series 1-1 at Melbourne.