Virat Kohli taking paternity leave instead of facing Australia proves cricket has moved with the times

Virat Kohli missing three Tests to welcome his first born is a world away from one Aussie skipper who learned of the birth of a child on the SCG scoreboard.

Ian Healy’s first sighting of his daughter Emma was via a black and white fax.

It was sent by a News Corp photographer who visited Healy’s wife Helen in hospital and dispatched the shot to Australia’s Test wicketkeeper on the 1991 West Indies tour.

Healy was ready for the news … sort of.

Merv Hughes, his room-mate at the time, said “by the way Helen rang and said she was having contractions.’’

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Ian Healy celebrates the birth of his daughter

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Merv being Merv, Healy was not sure whether it was breaking news or he was the victim of a prank.

But it was soon confirmed as the truth as Healy was doused with champagne by his mates as the photo arrived.

Healy had the safest hands in Australian cricket yet admitted he had never been more nervous when Helen handed him Emma at Brisbane airport on the way home.

This was the way it was for generations.

The expectation for players on tour was to stay on tour rather than rush home as India captain Virat Kolhi will do this summer when he returns to be with his wife at the birth of their first baby in January.

Players of previous eras were tough men. Loyalty to the dressing room was absolute. But as society has changed, so has cricket.

For all the disappointment of the series being robbed of arguably its leading man, voices decrying him for abandoning it for that precious family moment are almost entirely silent.

Allan Border found out about his fourth-born courtesy of the SCG scoreboard.

People would love him here but we’re at a stage now as a society where, however dramatic the news was, it has been met with nothing but straightforward understanding and barely a shrug of the shoulders.

Allan Border knows well the old way. Wife Jane rang him when he was in the Caribbean in 1984 to say his first child was on the way and he stayed up all night waiting for the news.

Later he found out he was no chance of getting it because the telephone exchange had shut down. Two weeks later he greeted son Dene at Brisbane airport.

Border was present at the birth of two of his children, Tara and Lachlan, and intended to be there for Nicole as well but she arrived early as his side battled to a draw against India at the SCG in 1986 and her birth was announced on the scoreboard.

The “will I or won’t I go home’’ debate rumbles along in cricket but authorities are now far more empathetic to players’ needs than they were in bygone generations.

Former Test star Shane Watson praised Kohli for his family focused attitude, after reflecting on the twist of fate which brought him back from India for the birth of his son, Will, when he hadn’t expected to.

Watson was resigned to missing the arrival of his second child because it coincided smack bang in the middle of an overseas Test series where he was Australian vice-captain.

Virat Kolhi is going home to be with his wife, Anushka Sharma.

However, when Watson was controversially suspended in Australia’s infamous Homeworkgate fiasco in 2013, the star all-rounder made the snap decision to fly home for the birth – before returning to India to incredibly captain the Test side in the last Test where Michael Clarke was injured.

It was a turbulent time in Watson’s cricket career, but he wouldn’t change it for the world.

“I feel so fortunate. I was going to miss the birth of Will because I was going to play that Test match that I got suspended for, so it’s amazing how things work out in life,” Watson said.

“It’s one of those special moments of your life when you can see and be there for the birth of one of your kids. And I know how Virat is as well. He’s a very family orientated guy … and even if he misses a couple of games, it’s not going to be the end of the world at all.”

Test spinner Nathan Lyon’s second child – daughter Milla – was also due in the middle of a Test tour, Australia’s series against Pakistan in the UAE in 2014.

The now all-time great spinner was still cementing his place in the side at the time and elected to stay in the UAE and watched the birth of his little girl on Skype.

“It was pretty emotional and I suppose devastating is the word to describe missing something special like that, but that’s the work line that I’ve got myself into and there are some sacrifices you have to make,” Lyon said at the time.

Shane Watson flew home in 2013 from India to be with wife, Lee.

“I was lucky enough to have the second best thing with Skype and it was pretty emotional sitting in the hotel room at 3am watching it by myself, but lucky enough that the hospital allowed that.”

David Warner and wife Candice took the extreme measure of having their third baby in the UK, in the middle of last year’s World Cup – so it wouldn’t interrupt Warner’s much-anticipated return to cricket.

Australia coach Justin Langer chose little Isla’s birthday or the Warner family, at a time in between World Cup matches.

“I just love being a father. I’ve got a great, supportive wife, a great family base at home as well. We’ve got great support around us, the guys here have been fantastic, they’ve really got around me at this important time for my family,” Warner said at the time.

“But my wife, as selfless as she is, cricket’s the priority and winning games for Australia and that’s what we’re trying to do.”