Parenting: the upside of downtime for cricketers

The coronavirus pandemic has forced everyone to remain at home with the hope of avoiding the spread of the deadly virus, which had already accounted for thousands of lives worldwide, with the number of fatalities growing by thousands every day.

Much like every other field, the sporting arena has been hit hard as all sporting events have been suspended.

Normally cricketers remain busy with their international and domestic commitments round-the-year, not getting much time to spend with their families. However, despite it not being an ideal situation, the downtime from the coronavirus outbreak has allowed national cricketers like Tamim Iqbal, Mahmudullah Riyad and Taijul Islam concentrate more on parenting.

Bangladesh's ODI skipper Tamim, who recently became father for the second time, informed that staying at home is allowing the bond with his family get firmer.

"Being a professional cricketer, we have to sacrifice a lot, especially in issues related to family. When things were normal, I personally did not have enough time to spend with the kids and others at home. Though the situation now [due to coronavirus] is not ideal, staying at home is giving me enough time to spend with the family and allowing the bond to get firmer," Tamim told The Daily Star.

"The day starts with running on the treadmill and then spending the rest of the day with family. A lot of time is also being spent watching Netflix. But having said that, this is not a normal life for any of us and I hope that the situation normalises soon and we can get back to our usual life," the left-handed opener added.

T20 captain Mahmudullah is utilising the time by helping his son Raeed with homework and other creative things.

"We are going through a very critical situation due to the coronavirus as we have to remain very careful and follow safety instructions strictly. But still life has been good in a sense that I am getting to spend a lot of time with my family, especially with my kid, doing a lot of things with him. I'm helping him with his homework and studies.

"I have not spent enough time since he started going to school. His mother always looks after those things, but now since I am home I am trying to look after those things. Drawing, painting are the other things that I am keeping my son busy with. I'm also playing games with my family members," said Mahmudullah, who also suggested everyone to read books during this idle time at home.

Taijul, too, has taken his parenting responsibilities very seriously.  The left-arm spinner now plays the role of a teacher when is he not busy changing nappies of his two-year-old son Taif Zawad Bin Islam.

"To be honest I have never spent so much time with my family and kid before, so I am enjoying every bit of it. Obviously, the situation is not normal and we have to be very careful about our health and safety. But during my stay at home these days, I have decided to help my wife by looking after my son.

"Normally she is the one who looks after my child and everything else at home when I am away for cricket. My new responsibility is to look after my son's studies and also have to be a horse as my son loves to ride one. I have just started changing nappies of my son, something which I have never done before," said Taijul.