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[PICTURES] Who is the most complete batter of the Fab four?

WengerOut said:
I am surprised that Indian posters are surprised to see Kohli not being accepted in PP. Haters have run out of tangibles to degrade him and now resort to the intangibles. I mean, this is a place where a domestic bully has been proclaimed the greatest player of swing and seam ever. This is a place where a good batsman after scoring couple of flashy fifties has been pushed to the pantheon of greatness whereas Kohli had to score in Eng just to be half decent ( did not matter he scored against ATG SA attack in SA).
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Kohli's one more WC win away as captain where he stars from being the greatest cricketer of the modern era.
 
MP2011 said:
If you truly believe the hype created by those 2 Smith innings in WC '15, sure go ahead and have him in your team in such specific scenario. I would always have Kohli in my team even in such scenarios. I know that because no amount of stats padding by Smith will change the fact that he is a vastly inferior ODI bat than Kohli in every possible parameter.
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Yes I would take Smith as of right now and no, he's a superior batsman with regard to this scenario.
 
Smith in Test - 61 and ODI - 41
Kohli in Test - 54 and ODI - 60

I'd take Kohli over smith anyday of the week and twice on Sunday!
 
Just an interesting stat of matches took per centuries in ODIs

Virat Kohli - 5.53
Babar Azam - 7.2 (Not in fab 4. Maybe fab 5?)
Joe Root - 8.31
Kane Williamson - 10.76
Steve Smith - 12.87
 
Tests:-

Smith 9/10
Kohli 8.5/10
Kane 8.5/10
Root 8/10

Odis:-

Kohli 9.5/10
Rohit 9/10
Root 8/10
Williamson 7.5/10
Babar 7.5/10
Smith 7/10
 
Kohli by miles. Great in all formats, has proven himself in turning, bouncy conditions, and after last year in England in seaming/swinging conditions also, is equally good home or away, can attack and defend well. He is as complete as it gets and is rising up the all time great list each year.
 
ARK Rafay said:
Just an interesting stat of matches took per centuries in ODIs

Virat Kohli - 5.53
Babar Azam - 7.2 (Not in fab 4. Maybe fab 5?)
Joe Root - 8.31
Kane Williamson - 10.76
Steve Smith - 12.87
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How many of those Babar centuries against top teams..
 
Is Joe Root a deserving member of the fab four fraternity?

I have been quietly noticing that he has hardly played a match-winning innings for Eng in this WC. Even in Test cricket he is struggling rn and has failed to inspire his side. He never was a great T20 player, so is Joe root a deserving member of fab 4 or it's factually fab 3 instead of fab 4 if merit is to be considered. The fact that Joe is an English player is surely boasting his case, and perhaps that is why he has been overrated too much, when in reality he has been churning out runs on flat decks.

I wouldn't even count babar in the fab 4 rn, he has a long long way to go to be considered. Needs to proof himself in the longest format of the game.
 
He is supposed to guide them through when the going gets tough, but he failed against Aus and NZ, and got out of a poor ball after his fifty against SL. Even in the game against India, he almost brought the opposition back into the game.
 
No, all this Fab 4 is rubbish. Buttler is a better batsman then all the alleged fab 4 and he showed it today. And Babar Azam is a better ODI bat then Williamson and Smith. Lets stop gassing.
 
I am not sure of this Fab 4 anymore really few of them are good in tests and few are better in ODI and there are better players than those 4 in specific formats.
 
He is softest of the four but he is highly talented and a very fluent batsmen.. Definitely a part of fab Four but the other three have a legacy, they have their version of story to tell their kids, Root don't have yet.
 
Let this over entitled group be put to rest now. At least drop the bottler Kohli from the so called best. He does not deserve it.
 
Root is on the brink of dropping out of the Fab 4, he's been below average in tests lately and hasn't really played an impactful ODI inning in a while. His Test ranking has dropped to 7 with 726 rating points, Kohli is no.1 with 910 points.
His ODI ranking is no.8 with 787 rating points, Kohli in no.1 with 895 points.

I only see his test ranking going down further at this stage.
 
Danyaalr01 said:
Root is on the brink of dropping out of the Fab 4, he's been below average in tests lately and hasn't really played an impactful ODI inning in a while. His Test ranking has dropped to 7 with 726 rating points, Kohli is no.1 with 910 points.
His ODI ranking is no.8 with 787 rating points, Kohli in no.1 with 895 points.

I only see his test ranking going down further at this stage.
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Root should move to number 4 in the battu G order. That will help him. They can probably play Vince at 3.
 
Kohli, Smith, Williamson or Root? Ian Chappell on best batsman of current generation

Virat Kohli, Steve Smith, Kane Williamson, and Joe Root - four top players who currently grace the game of cricket.

These four have established themselves to be amongst the best and some are even leading their sides towards word domination.

So when Ian Chappell was asked to name who is the best batsman of the current generation, the former Australian captain took the name, Kohli.

"Of that group, Kohli is the best in all three forms. That’s unquestionable. His record in all three forms is quite unbelievable, particularly his record in the shorter forms,” Chappell said on The RK Show, hosted by sports broadcaster Radhakrishnan Sreenivasan on YouTube.

“Having listened to Kohli talk about batting, he makes a lot of sense. I like his approach to batting. We did an interview with him last time India were in Australia, and one of the things he talked about was why he didn’t play the fancy shots, the innovative shots of particularly T20 cricket.

“He said he didn’t want those to creep in his batting in the longer form of the game. The best short-form player in the time I played was Viv Richards, and he just played normal cricket shots but he placed the ball so well he was able to score at a very fast rate. And Kohli’s the same. He plays traditional cricket shots, and he plays them really well.

“The other thing that stands out about Kohli is his fitness and running between the wickets. The way he pushes himself, he’s incredibly fit. Some of his performances are quite amazing".

Talking about Kohli's captaincy, Chappell said he liked the Indian’s desire to win cricket matches.

“The one thing that stands out to me is that Kohli is the one (captain) that doesn’t fear defeat. He’s prepared to lose a game in trying to win it. You’ve got to be that way as a captain in my opinion. I like that approach.

“I thought when he took over the captaincy that he was so emotional, it might affect his captaincy adversely but I think he has reined that in a little bit. He has made that work for him in his captaincy rather than work against him. He’s a pretty smart cricketer,” the legendary skipper said.
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Link: https://www.dnaindia.com/cricket/re...on-best-batsman-of-current-generation-2825224
 
freelance_cricketer said:
Relativity has to be taken into account bro.
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Ok good point. If sachin was in this era, he would have a strike rate of 57, comapred to Smith's 55. That is not the difference between 'surviving' and 'thriving', and is significantly less relevant than Smith's average which is 17% better than Sachin's, and actually increase to 20% higher when taking era-adjustment into account
 
therealAB said:
Ok good point. If sachin was in this era, he would have a strike rate of 57, comapred to Smith's 55. That is not the difference between 'surviving' and 'thriving', and is significantly less relevant than Smith's average which is 17% better than Sachin's, and actually increase to 20% higher when taking era-adjustment into account
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But bro era adjustment wil inflate Tendulkar's test average no?

Also SR without context means little

AB de Villier has decided to park the bus many times in test cricket but he can thrive when he wants to.

Tendulkar had a 5th gear which Smith doesn't have, neither does Kohli, it's not a claim but a fact.
 
King-Misbah said:
No, all this Fab 4 is rubbish. Buttler is a better batsman then all the alleged fab 4 and he showed it today. And Babar Azam is a better ODI bat then Williamson and Smith. Lets stop gassing.
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Haha just read this. Buttler makes root look like an ATG test batsman
 
freelance_cricketer said:
But bro era adjustment wil inflate Tendulkar's test average no?

Also SR without context means little

AB de Villier has decided to park the bus many times in test cricket but he can thrive when he wants to.

Tendulkar had a 5th gear which Smith doesn't have, neither does Kohli, it's not a claim but a fact.
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No, not compared to Smith. The average in Tendulkar's career (1989-2013) was higher than the average during Smith's career (2010-2020). Therefore Smith gets adjusted up relative to Sachin.

Regarding gears, Smith hits 0.58 sixes/match while Sachin hit 0.345. Smith hits 68% more. Also, if you had seen Smith's 1st innings knock at Edgebaston, and his 2nd Innings knock at Old Trafford, you would not doubt his gears.

At Old Trafford Smith scored 82 off 92 from a score of 4/44. This included 63 from 42 at 150 SR.
At Edgebaston Smith not only played a more clutch innings than Sachin has in his life, he also scored 52/43 in his partnership with Lyon.

Trust me the bloke has gears, and does so in a clutch way that Sachin dreams about
 
Tendulkar's Chennai hundred chasing 380 is more clutch than anything Smith's done till date in all honesty
 
freelance_cricketer said:
Tendulkar's Chennai hundred chasing 380 is more clutch than anything Smith's done till date in all honesty
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Chasing 270 not 380. 122/8, coming back from the ban and scores 144. Better than Sachin's choking innings, played an awful shot to get out.

Have u changed ur opinion re gears?
 
Steve Smith is among the most clutch batsmen I have ever seen.

Consistency like Jacques Kallis, clutch factor like VVS Laxman and batting style like Shiv Chanderpaul.
 
Ab Fan said:
Steve Smith is among the most clutch batsmen I have ever seen.

Consistency like Jacques Kallis, clutch factor like VVS Laxman and batting style like Shiv Chanderpaul.
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Hahah so true. Maybe I will give [MENTION=65183]freelance_cricketer[/MENTION] consistency like Sachin
 
therealAB said:
Hahah so true. Maybe I will give [MENTION=65183]freelance_cricketer[/MENTION] consistency like Sachin
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Steve Smith is simply a dream test batsmen, the only reason I see some ex-cricket experts not rating him is because of aesthetics or the fact that he is not an all-format great.

He looks ugly on eyes but you can't really question his effectiveness.
 
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Looks like the 'so called' Fab 4 is coming to an end.

Kohli is almost finished

Smith is on downward curve

Root after a great 2021..couldnt do much downunder

Williamson is also doing nothing of note

So who are the next 'Fab 4'?

1) Marnus Labuschange
2) Babar Azam
3) KL Rahul
4) ??
 
Rajdeep said:
Looks like the 'so called' Fab 4 is coming to an end.

Kohli is almost finished

Smith is on downward curve

Root after a great 2021..couldnt do much downunder

Williamson is also doing nothing of note

So who are the next 'Fab 4'?

1) Marnus Labuschange
2) Babar Azam
3) KL Rahul
4) ??
Click to expand...

Williamson has done plenty. He averages almost 54 in tests. The problem is that he is a minnow basher of the highest degree, probably the biggest minnow basher ever to average 50+.

Root, Smith and Kohli are of much higher quality than Williamson. But yeah, Fab 3/4 is coming to an end.
 
Virat Kohli and Joe Root.

But Smith batted better than anyone who played Test Cricket in this millennium in the 2019 Ashes.
 
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Hard to say, they all have flaws.

Root fails to convert and is loose outside off stump

Kohli is similarly loose to wider deliveries and perhaps has issues with his head falling across and getting lbw (Root used to have that issues as well)

Williamson has major issues away from home against strong attacks

Smith is a very complete test batsmen, but his hitting ability in ODI cricket is lacking compared to the best ODI batsmen in the world

Compared to Tendulkar, probably the most complete batsmen of our lifetime they all have flaws
 
Rajdeep said:
Looks like the 'so called' Fab 4 is coming to an end.

Root after a great 2021..couldnt do much
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So, does that mean 2021 was just a purple patch for Root and he will go back to his usual 50s and 70s as his test average will slide down a bit more?

Nevertheless, I would still rate him as best England all round batsman that I have seen.
 
Steve Smith and Kane Williamson are complete batters, because Steve Smith has 32 centuries in 181 innings and Kane Williamson has 29 centuries in 165 innings

Meanwhile Joe Root has 30 centuries in 247 innings and Virat Kohli has 29 centuries in 187 innings
 
sweep_shot said:
In terms of technique, Williamson definitely.

In terms of achievement, Kohli.
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Williamson has a mediocre Test record in India, Australia, England, South Africa and Sri Lanka. Clearly he doesn’t have the best technique.

Technically, Joe Root is the best among the four but in terms of output, achievements and performances across all formats, it is Kohli by some distance.
 
Also, Warner is second best all format batter after Kohli.

Smith, Root or Williamson are behind.
 
Williamson for sure. Without any doubt. As he always delivers in crunch matches. Just make a search yourself.
 
If you take all formats in count has to be Kohli. But Kohli is a little behind the other 3 in tests alone.
 
SamNJ said:
If you take all formats in count has to be Kohli. But Kohli is a little behind the other 3 in tests alone.
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Kohli is better than Williamson in tests. Kane has a terrible away record against the biggest nations- sa, aus and ind. Huge gap between his home and away records too
 
Well, I believe Williamson deserves a lead here because he is the most consistent batter in all three formats right now.

After that Kohli, Babar and then Root

Steve Smith is not in my Fab 4 list anymore!
 
Cricket Warrior said:
Well, I believe Williamson deserves a lead here because he is the most consistent batter in all three formats right now.

After that Kohli, Babar and then Root

Steve Smith is not in my Fab 4 list anymore!
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Williamson is consistent mostly at home or lower ranked country iN Tests. In ODIs he relies on others to do the heavy lifting of scoring quickly say Daryl Mitchell. His records can be misleading. Smith is the only proven performer across the countries in Tests. But he has become way way too limited in LOIs.
 
jnaveen1980 said:
Williamson is consistent mostly at home or lower ranked country iN Tests. In ODIs he relies on others to do the heavy lifting of scoring quickly say Daryl Mitchell. His records can be misleading. Smith is the only proven performer across the countries in Tests. But he has become way way too limited in LOIs.
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I have never seen him underperforming specially against bigger teams.

In this World Cup, he was the most consistent batter for NZ but at the other end Smith's tournament was totally disastrous.
 
Cricket Warrior said:
I have never seen him underperforming specially against bigger teams.

In this World Cup, he was the most consistent batter for NZ but at the other end Smith's tournament was totally disastrous.
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Kane average is 39 against Ind, Aus, SA and Eng in test format ( including NZ, these 4 will be the top 5 test teams). His average is 73 against the bottom 5 teams in test format.
 
Old Kohli and current Root are risk takers. Kohli was always a risk taker as he is basically a stroke maker. Before Kohli suffered a massive prolonged slump his strike rate was 58 in Tests. Jo Root is also a constant run scorer. He doesn't get stuck at any point. Even before bazball he was known for scoring fairly quickly. Steve smith is also known for busy cricket. Compared to them Kane is a bit docile.

In one dayers and T20s Kohli proved he is far more versatile than other three. Definitely his slump is a black mark in his career. It took a very long time to strike some form. I thought his career was finished 2 years back. I am not sure you can consider this a return to form strictly. Let us wait and see
 
In Tests

Smith > Root > Williamson > Kohli

In ODIs

Kohli > Williamson > Smith > Root

In t20s

Kohli > The other 3 in no particular order

In knockouts/important matches

Smith > Williamson > Root > Kohli

Most complete batsman Kohli

Batsman who actually benefits his team by winning ICC tournament and important test matches= STEVE SMITH
 
Steven Smith is the greatest and most complete batsmen of this generation. He may not be as dynamic in ODIs as some of the others but even in ODIs he has very good performances in knockout rounds and dominated the KO rounds in 2015 when his team won a WC. He did great against South Africa in the semi finals this World Cup and would probably have scored another match winning 50+ score in the final against India if he had not been wrongfully given out.

The only question is how highly one rates T20 performances. Based on T20 performances, Kohli seems to be significantly ahead of the other batsmen in the conversation. But for me the importance of Test cricket is like 60% of a players record, followed by maybe 30% for ODI, and 10% for T20.

Steven Smith’s Test record is 100x greater than Kohli’s, his ODI record is worse but he has a much better record in the most important matches - the knockout rounds - while Kohli is 100x ahead in T20. Also, despite being a much better T20 player, Kohli has still failed to get his team a T20 WC while Steven Smith has one, so it’s also fair to question how much that better record even mattered.
 
160KPH said:
Steven Smith is the greatest and most complete batsmen of this generation. He may not be as dynamic in ODIs as some of the others but even in ODIs he has very good performances in knockout rounds and dominated the KO rounds in 2015 when his team won a WC. He did great against South Africa in the semi finals this World Cup and would probably have scored another match winning 50+ score in the final against India if he had not been wrongfully given out.

The only question is how highly one rates T20 performances. Based on T20 performances, Kohli seems to be significantly ahead of the other batsmen in the conversation. But for me the importance of Test cricket is like 60% of a players record, followed by maybe 30% for ODI, and 10% for T20.

Steven Smith’s Test record is 100x greater than Kohli’s, his ODI record is worse but he has a much better record in the most important matches - the knockout rounds - while Kohli is 100x ahead in T20. Also, despite being a much better T20 player, Kohli has still failed to get his team a T20 WC while Steven Smith has one, so it’s also fair to question how much that better record even mattered.
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Kohli has not won in IPL as well with all the big guns. Even when he scored close to 1000 runs in single IPL season his team did not win. I don't think it has anything to do with his batting. Ironically India's one of the greatest ever series win for India happened when Kohli did not play. Under Rahane India won 2 tests (MCG & Gabba) and pulled off an impossible draw (SCG). Kohli missed in all three tests. May be just the bad luck he is carrying.
 
If we are talking about all formats then Kohli is above all. Smith and root should not be in fab four as they have nothing to show in other formats except red ball in recent times. Babar is another contender for that fab four but his recent form is not good in white ball but he is still better all-format batter than root and smith.
 
Batters with the most Test runs since Virat Kohli's debut in the format

icYuvqe.png
 
Kohli is a match winner across all formats of the game. However, Root is superior to Kohli as a Test batsman.
 
Joe Root has left everyone in the Fab 4 behind as he completed 33rd Test ton.

Root has scored 858 runs in 2024 with an average of 57.20, including 3 100s and 4 50s.

4VRQUro.jpg
 
There was a time not too long ago when Smith was leading the pack by a fair distance. Then it was Kohli, followed by Williamson and then Root who was constantly getting out after scoring half centuries.

Safe to say Root has eclipsed them all and is going for ATG status now. Smith is having a lean year but he is a distant No.2. Then its Williamson followed by Kohli.

Personally, I think Kohli is significantly better player than Williamson but more recently, Williamson has been better.

In limited-overs, Kohli is the GOAT and none of the others ever come close.
 
Most single-digit scores in Tests (Top-order batters, positions 1-7) [Active Players]

65 - Kraigg Brathwaite (181 innings)
64 - Joe Root (272 innings)
51 - Dimuth Karunaratne (183 innings)
51 - Ben Stokes (192 innings)
48 - Kane Williamson (180 innings)
48 - Virat Kohli (200 innings)
47 - Tom Latham (151 innings)
46 - Mushfiqur Rahim (174 innings)
45 - Cheteshwar Pujara (176 innings)
44 - Angelo Mathews (202 innings)
44 - Mominul Haque (125 innings)
43 - Jonny Bairstow (178 innings)
43 - Steven Smith (195 innings)
 
Cricket Warrior said:
for me Its Virat Kohli who dominated all formats of the game for a long time period.
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Firstly Kohli was never better then steve smith in tests. Smith was so good in tests during 2014-2020 and even now he's remained pretty good but not as good.

As for odi and t20, Kohli in prime is superior but Smith's been more clutch.

Smith has now won wtc 2023 and wc 2015 for his country.

The issue with indian cricketers and their fans is that while they dominate bi laterals and home + overseas test, very few indian cricketers have notable performances in ICC events.

Smith winning wtc + wc 2015 is greater then anything Kohli has ever done, and that's because these games are the biggest stages of a cricketers life.

Kohli's best performance has been wc 2024 final where he was a circus clown that requored Bumrah having to save his bum.

But yes otherwise In test Smith > Kohli but Kohli > Smith in odi and t20.
 
I would say Kohli. Based on his career. Not his current form.

Whey you say complete batter, I take is as multi format. No matter what format, test, ODI or T20, he has been able to adapt to all formats better than the other three. At his peak he would have walked into a world XI in all three formats.
 
Smith is more clutch than Kohli in t20s 🤡

There is no need for bakwass explanation here, stats aloe triumph, Kohli is the most complete batter of fab 4 as he is a limited overs GIANT and right now a country great in Test cricket.
 
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