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Over the past decade it has been well established who have been the poster boys of cricket also known as Fab 4 [Kohli, Smith, Root and Williamson]. The career trajectory of these 4 players have been eerily similar as well and they have pretty much ruled the roost and been representing cricket for a good part of last decade.
Where we stand now is actually a pivotal point in time where we are seeing the curve of these players take a turn towards the downside and its fair to say its soon going to be that time when we establish our new cricket poster boys. Before we do that lets see where each of the current poster boys are at and when did their downward turn started.
Kohli - Already established as an ATG in limited overs had a pretty torrid time with the bat for the past couple of years now. For a guy who used to hit centuries for fun haven't had one for 2 years is unreal and unheard of. When it comes to batting form his decline already started and over the past 6 months his relationship with the Board has also gone sour. He has lost/surrendered his captaincy across all formats even in IPL. Signs are there that he would retire from international cricket very soon now given a player of his calibre would not be suited to play under someone else's shadow. I personally feel with 2023 WC he would hang his boots.
Smith - Needless to go any further than to say his sandpaper antics was pretty much the start of his decline. He has remained a very good batsman but he is not the same as he used to be before the tampering saga. His captaincy has already been taken away and for his remaining career he would not be given the spotlight that a cricket poster boy deserves so he has fallen off this list.
Root - He is the one who had the most scrutiny over the Fab 4 status early on and here we are with him carrying the mantle firmly at the moment. He has been in the form of his life over the past year however mentally I do not feel he is as strong as the other 3. Therefore, the current Ashes drubbing would certainly carry an impact on Root and in most likelihood he would lose his test captaincy and as a result England would try to put the spotlight on someone else and he would lose the spotlight that a poster boy carries in a year's time.
Williamson - He did come through and produced the best T20 innings of 2021 in the final for me which is his weakest format but off late not much spotlight has been shone on him. Yes he won the WTC and took his team to final in limited overs circuit so all in all he is doing well and most likely would hold onto the spotlight for longer than the above 3. We might have to wait on Williamson to fall out of the spotlight but given NZ play so little cricket it is bound to happen in a year or two.
As mentioned above all the current Fab 4 are pretty much in a decline or going into a decline which shows that the mantle of cricket's poster boys should now shift onto someone else. Usually we have seen Fab 4 defined as a strong batsman for their side with leadership ability. If we apply the similar metrics then I can see the following cricketers taking up this mantle for next 5 years or more.
Babar Azam - The first one on this list is an easy pick. Babar constantly features in the top 3 batsmen already across format and has been part of that list for a good part of past 2 years or so. He is the captain of Pakistan team and already started to be idolised in the country. He is an automatic choice to carry this mantle forward.
KL Rahul - He is touted to be the next best thing after retirements of Kohli and Sharma. Over his career he has already shown more than enough glimpses of carrying the batting elegance and talent that a Fab 4 would be proud of. He is also most likely to be thrusted with a leadership role in future and hence he would make this list as well.
Marnus Labuchagne - He has already shown that he belongs in the top bracket in test cricket which is evident with his consistency and runs he make. He might not have the best technique going around but he certainly has the best application. Although he is yet to do anything substantial in limited overs I believe his time would come soon in limited overs too where he would be a reliant batsman for Australia. He very well could also be a candidate to take over from Cummins after his stint.
On the current outlook in cricket above are the only names that can muster a Fab 3 going forward. On names alone they don't give the same level of excitement that Fab 4 gave but nonetheless they are going to be the poster boys going forward.
I gave consideration to Latham from NZ, Mendis from SL and Pope from England but none of them have either been consistent enough or have done anything substantial consistently that the above 3 have done. Overall, I wish the next decade although it would be dominated by the batters above I personally would want that we go into the next decade and it is defined by Fab 4 or Fab 3 of bowlers rather than batters like it used to be in the past.
Where we stand now is actually a pivotal point in time where we are seeing the curve of these players take a turn towards the downside and its fair to say its soon going to be that time when we establish our new cricket poster boys. Before we do that lets see where each of the current poster boys are at and when did their downward turn started.
Kohli - Already established as an ATG in limited overs had a pretty torrid time with the bat for the past couple of years now. For a guy who used to hit centuries for fun haven't had one for 2 years is unreal and unheard of. When it comes to batting form his decline already started and over the past 6 months his relationship with the Board has also gone sour. He has lost/surrendered his captaincy across all formats even in IPL. Signs are there that he would retire from international cricket very soon now given a player of his calibre would not be suited to play under someone else's shadow. I personally feel with 2023 WC he would hang his boots.
Smith - Needless to go any further than to say his sandpaper antics was pretty much the start of his decline. He has remained a very good batsman but he is not the same as he used to be before the tampering saga. His captaincy has already been taken away and for his remaining career he would not be given the spotlight that a cricket poster boy deserves so he has fallen off this list.
Root - He is the one who had the most scrutiny over the Fab 4 status early on and here we are with him carrying the mantle firmly at the moment. He has been in the form of his life over the past year however mentally I do not feel he is as strong as the other 3. Therefore, the current Ashes drubbing would certainly carry an impact on Root and in most likelihood he would lose his test captaincy and as a result England would try to put the spotlight on someone else and he would lose the spotlight that a poster boy carries in a year's time.
Williamson - He did come through and produced the best T20 innings of 2021 in the final for me which is his weakest format but off late not much spotlight has been shone on him. Yes he won the WTC and took his team to final in limited overs circuit so all in all he is doing well and most likely would hold onto the spotlight for longer than the above 3. We might have to wait on Williamson to fall out of the spotlight but given NZ play so little cricket it is bound to happen in a year or two.
As mentioned above all the current Fab 4 are pretty much in a decline or going into a decline which shows that the mantle of cricket's poster boys should now shift onto someone else. Usually we have seen Fab 4 defined as a strong batsman for their side with leadership ability. If we apply the similar metrics then I can see the following cricketers taking up this mantle for next 5 years or more.
Babar Azam - The first one on this list is an easy pick. Babar constantly features in the top 3 batsmen already across format and has been part of that list for a good part of past 2 years or so. He is the captain of Pakistan team and already started to be idolised in the country. He is an automatic choice to carry this mantle forward.
KL Rahul - He is touted to be the next best thing after retirements of Kohli and Sharma. Over his career he has already shown more than enough glimpses of carrying the batting elegance and talent that a Fab 4 would be proud of. He is also most likely to be thrusted with a leadership role in future and hence he would make this list as well.
Marnus Labuchagne - He has already shown that he belongs in the top bracket in test cricket which is evident with his consistency and runs he make. He might not have the best technique going around but he certainly has the best application. Although he is yet to do anything substantial in limited overs I believe his time would come soon in limited overs too where he would be a reliant batsman for Australia. He very well could also be a candidate to take over from Cummins after his stint.
On the current outlook in cricket above are the only names that can muster a Fab 3 going forward. On names alone they don't give the same level of excitement that Fab 4 gave but nonetheless they are going to be the poster boys going forward.
I gave consideration to Latham from NZ, Mendis from SL and Pope from England but none of them have either been consistent enough or have done anything substantial consistently that the above 3 have done. Overall, I wish the next decade although it would be dominated by the batters above I personally would want that we go into the next decade and it is defined by Fab 4 or Fab 3 of bowlers rather than batters like it used to be in the past.
