1 smith(9/10)-rarely failed in any series and averages around 60.He could easily lose his no 1 spot if he has a poor overseas series(like kohli in England 2014)
2 amla(8.8/10) – would’ve been no 1 but in last 2 yrs he’s been below average whereas smith has been excellent:
3 Cook(8.5/10)- Cook and devilliers are very Close.He is certainly been more inconsistent than ABD.But i've given benefit of doubt to Cook for 3 reasons-:
a)he is an english opener and faces more difficult condition than any other player.You can check stats of other England openers to get this idea.
b)Cook has scored 11.7k runs as compared to 8.1k runs by ABD.Also he hasn't taken break from test cricket unlike ABD.
C) Cook has played for england as compared to ABd who played for SA(who were no 1 team for 90% of his career)
4 AB devilliers(8.5/10)-:he is more versatile than players below.he’s also played various great innings on 5th day(ex- 30 of 200 balls etc).He has been one of the most consistent players in the world.He'd probably overtake
Cook if he reaches 10k runs in test.He's slightly better than Cook against quality pacers.He also dominated Peak Johnson.
5 Pujara(8/10)- It's extremely difficult for me to justify his #5 rank as his stats aren't better than players below.To me he is Without doubt best player in Sc condition.Ashwin,jadeja and herath are great in SC but in batting there is no match for pujara.Played various match winning and saving in his test career.He has to rectify his record outside SC.If you look at stats then kohli should've been ranked higher than Pujara but pujara has played more match winnings/saving innings on most difficult pitches(even though those pitches are in SC).For EX-82* Vs Aus(4th test 2013),92 vs Aus(in banglore 2017),130+ vs england in mumbai 2012,145* vs Sri lanka 2015(series decider where no batsmen scored more than 50 runs),200 vs Aus in Ranchi 2017(very important inning underpressure).I think he has more than made up for his overseas failures and deserves to be ranked higher than Kohli.He also scored most runs when india toured South africa last time(280 runs next best was kohli and ABD)
6 kohli(7.8/10)-surprisingly he’s achieved more than any player below.he averages 48.84 along with 7 centuries against top ranked side outside SC(vs Sa,Aus,Eng,Nz away) which is great for any SC batsman.In comparison sangakara(SC batsmen like Kohli) also scored 7 centuries outside Sc.Need to improve against swing bowling.Overall he averages 51 against sa,Aus,NZ and Eng.kohli would've been ranked on par with Pujara if he hadn't failed horribly against Australia recently.
7 Root(7.5)-In terms of adapting to different condition(whether swing or spin),to me he is best batsman in the world right now.No batsman looks more in control than Root. Despite his good average overseas he hasn’t made much impact in his test career as player’s above.Need to convert 50s into more meaningful innings..He can easily become best of this generation in test.
8 williamson(7.5)-His record against top sides overall isn’t good as players above.Against top sides(Aus,sa,pak,eng,ind) he overall averages 41 and 39 overseas.His conversion rate has been great so far.
9 murali vijay(7.3) - He has underachieved but his stats are also underrated.I've rated him high because he has played many memorable knocks.He was also brilliant in overseas matches despite being an opener.
10 Azhar Ali/Rahane(7.2)-Rahane is probably most complete SC batsmen in overseas condition as he hasn't failed in any away series(in Aus,SA,NZ,ENG).But Rahane needs to play more memorable innings and improve his play against Spin.Azhar Ali has been more consistent than Rahane overall.He was brilliant in Aus tour.I've given slight edge to Azhar for two reason:
a)he is an opener
b)Azhar is pakistan's best batsmen and Rahane is probably india's 4th best batsmen.
NOTE-: i've judge them only by their performance so far and not by potential.
2 amla(8.8/10) – would’ve been no 1 but in last 2 yrs he’s been below average whereas smith has been excellent:
3 Cook(8.5/10)- Cook and devilliers are very Close.He is certainly been more inconsistent than ABD.But i've given benefit of doubt to Cook for 3 reasons-:
a)he is an english opener and faces more difficult condition than any other player.You can check stats of other England openers to get this idea.
b)Cook has scored 11.7k runs as compared to 8.1k runs by ABD.Also he hasn't taken break from test cricket unlike ABD.
C) Cook has played for england as compared to ABd who played for SA(who were no 1 team for 90% of his career)
4 AB devilliers(8.5/10)-:he is more versatile than players below.he’s also played various great innings on 5th day(ex- 30 of 200 balls etc).He has been one of the most consistent players in the world.He'd probably overtake
Cook if he reaches 10k runs in test.He's slightly better than Cook against quality pacers.He also dominated Peak Johnson.
5 Pujara(8/10)- It's extremely difficult for me to justify his #5 rank as his stats aren't better than players below.To me he is Without doubt best player in Sc condition.Ashwin,jadeja and herath are great in SC but in batting there is no match for pujara.Played various match winning and saving in his test career.He has to rectify his record outside SC.If you look at stats then kohli should've been ranked higher than Pujara but pujara has played more match winnings/saving innings on most difficult pitches(even though those pitches are in SC).For EX-82* Vs Aus(4th test 2013),92 vs Aus(in banglore 2017),130+ vs england in mumbai 2012,145* vs Sri lanka 2015(series decider where no batsmen scored more than 50 runs),200 vs Aus in Ranchi 2017(very important inning underpressure).I think he has more than made up for his overseas failures and deserves to be ranked higher than Kohli.He also scored most runs when india toured South africa last time(280 runs next best was kohli and ABD)
6 kohli(7.8/10)-surprisingly he’s achieved more than any player below.he averages 48.84 along with 7 centuries against top ranked side outside SC(vs Sa,Aus,Eng,Nz away) which is great for any SC batsman.In comparison sangakara(SC batsmen like Kohli) also scored 7 centuries outside Sc.Need to improve against swing bowling.Overall he averages 51 against sa,Aus,NZ and Eng.kohli would've been ranked on par with Pujara if he hadn't failed horribly against Australia recently.
7 Root(7.5)-In terms of adapting to different condition(whether swing or spin),to me he is best batsman in the world right now.No batsman looks more in control than Root. Despite his good average overseas he hasn’t made much impact in his test career as player’s above.Need to convert 50s into more meaningful innings..He can easily become best of this generation in test.
8 williamson(7.5)-His record against top sides overall isn’t good as players above.Against top sides(Aus,sa,pak,eng,ind) he overall averages 41 and 39 overseas.His conversion rate has been great so far.
9 murali vijay(7.3) - He has underachieved but his stats are also underrated.I've rated him high because he has played many memorable knocks.He was also brilliant in overseas matches despite being an opener.
10 Azhar Ali/Rahane(7.2)-Rahane is probably most complete SC batsmen in overseas condition as he hasn't failed in any away series(in Aus,SA,NZ,ENG).But Rahane needs to play more memorable innings and improve his play against Spin.Azhar Ali has been more consistent than Rahane overall.He was brilliant in Aus tour.I've given slight edge to Azhar for two reason:
a)he is an opener
b)Azhar is pakistan's best batsmen and Rahane is probably india's 4th best batsmen.
NOTE-: i've judge them only by their performance so far and not by potential.
ujara has played 27 matches at home vs AUS,SA,ENG and NZ(as compared to 14 match away from home against them)
