Shane Warne Picks His Top 5 Current Test Batters

[Saj]

Legendary Australia spinner Shane Warne has named his top five current batters in Test cricket. In Warne's list, Australia vice-captain Steve Smith is at the top, followed by England Test skipper Joe Root and New Zealand captain Kane Williamson. "I've got Steve Smith. In all conditions and against all bowling attacks for a long period of time, Smith is outstanding. Joe Root is number two; he has made six hundreds in this calendar year. Kane Williamson is always in thereabouts," said Warne in a video uploaded on Instagram by Fox Cricket.

The former leg-spinner also included India's Test captain captain Virat Kohli as his fourth-best batter in the format while Australia's young middle-order batter Marnus Labuschagne made it to the number five spot in Warne's list.

"Virat Kohli has just dropped off a little bit, and then Marnus (Labuschagne) rounds up the top 5 for me," added Warne.

Kohli hasn't scored an international hundred since 2019 and 2021 has been among his best years as a batter and captain.

However, Kohli will continue to lead India in Test cricket, where he is the country's most successful skipper with 39 wins.

Kohli is also the all-time third most successful Test captain when it comes to the number of wins. South Africa's Graeme Smith leads that table with 53 wins, followed by Australia's Ricky Ponting with 48 victories.

NDTV

 

[Majestic]

1. Steve Smith
2. Joe Root
3. Virat Kohli
4. Kane Williamson
5. Babar Azam

 

[DeadlyVenom]

Kohli is not a top 5 test bat. Warne doesn't really seem to watch cricket. I generally zone out of his analysis unless he is talking about spinners.

 

[WhenSultansBowled]

Babar Azam has to score a match winning daddy 100 like Younis Khan's 267 vs India.

Insha'Allah it will come soon. It will give loads of confidence to Babar and then he can compared to the fab-4.

 

[Unbiased-Fan]

Predictable picks

 

[RedwoodOriginal]

Warne is as deluded as they come. It amazes me how someone as insufferable and out of touch as him is considered an analyst and regularly gets commentating gigs.

I honestly don't think Kohli cannot be considered a Top 5 bat until he improves his form. He has been in horrific for a number of years now. And there's only so long you can coast by on your name and everything you once accomplished. He has literally gone from averaging 54 a couple of years ago to averaging 50. His last test hundred came in what? 2019?

And picking Labusagne is such an Australian thing to do. A guy who has played 13 of his 18 test matches in Australia. Talk about Labusagne when he scores centuries in Asia, South Africa, New Zealand, England. Because till then he will simply be regarded as a home track bully.

At present there are only three world-class batsmen and that's Smith, Root and Williamson. If you want to add another, add Karunaratne because he has had a great year. But that's about it.

 

[Ab Fan]

On current form in tests :-

1. Joe Root
2. Rohit Sharma
3. Kane Williamson
4. David Warner
5. Marnus Labuschagne

No Smith, No Virat and No Babar.

 

[MesonK]

Lol at Kohli averaging 29 in last 2+ years being in the best test batsmen. Same lol also on pakistani fans bringing in babar's name in tests.

real list

Root
kane
Smith
Labu
Warner

 

[Buffet]

Kohli is not really scoring runs.

 

[Pakhs]

Fair enough list Labuchange is the only questionable one, Kohli I guess have done enough to be in the list ling term.

 

[Rajdeep]

Babar Azam has to score a match winning daddy 100 like Younis Khan's 267 vs India.

Insha'Allah it will come soon. It will give loads of confidence to Babar and then he can compared to the fab-4.

Not necessarily. I mean Sehwag has grand daddy triple century in Multan and overall avgs 94 against Pakistan but he was not in any fab list. So scoring against Pakistan for an Indian player or vice versa is not the only criteria to become elite batsman. Also, for all its worth Babar will never get to play a test against India anyway as Indo-Pak tests wont happen atleast for next 2 decades.

 

[WhenSultansBowled]

Not necessarily. I mean Sehwag has grand daddy triple century in Multan and overall avgs 94 against Pakistan but he was not in any fab list. So scoring against Pakistan for an Indian player or vice versa is not the only criteria to become elite batsman. Also, for all its worth Babar will never get to play a test against India anyway as Indo-Pak tests wont happen atleast for next 2 decades.

Sehwag was utterly clueless against any form of swing. Random trundlers owned him mercilessly.

Babar Azam, on the other hand, has the skill and game against all kind of pace/swing/seam bowling, a weakness against spin but he was better than I expected vs BD spinners; so unlike most Pak batters of these past years he is actually trying to improve.

But typical beautiful looking Babar 50s are useless in test cricket. He has to dig deep and score big 100s. Win games and only then he will become a truly elite test batter.

 

[street cricketer]

Kohli was a top 2 bat about 3 years back, now he's not even in top 5 or even top 10 batsmen in world cricket. Getting into these lists based on mercy quota lol.

On current form, it's

Root
Smith
Rohit
Kane
Probably Labuschagne

 

[JibranAnsari]

Kohli
Smith
Root
Williamson
Labuschange

The best of this generation so far.

 

[ChTab]

1. Steve Smith
2. Joe Root
3. Virat Kohli
4. Kane Williamson
5. Babar Azam

What has Babar done to be in this list?
He hasn't score a test hundred since the pandemic started & he has played 4 tests vs minnows 2 vs Zim & 2 vs Ban.

Babar based on his performance for the past 2 years in test arena he can't even be in top 50.

 

[Ramsay]

Sehwag was utterly clueless against any form of swing. Random trundlers owned him mercilessly.

Babar Azam, on the other hand, has the skill and game against all kind of pace/swing/seam bowling, a weakness against spin but he was better than I expected vs BD spinners; so unlike most Pak batters of these past years he is actually trying to improve.

But typical beautiful looking Babar 50s are useless in test cricket. He has to dig deep and score big 100s. Win games and only then he will become a truly elite test batter.

Sehwag has centuries in SA[debut century], England and Australia on his first ever tour to the respective countries.

How many centuries does Babar Azam have in the SENA?

 

[YorkshireTrust]

Babar needs at minimum 2 double centuries to be in the top 5 list.

 

[WhenSultansBowled]

Sehwag has centuries in SA[debut century], England and Australia on his first ever tour to the respective countries.

How many centuries does Babar Azam have in the SENA?

Precisely. This is what whole PP say all week every day, he has no centuries and he must score if he wanna have a seat at the fab-4 table.

 

[Ab Fan]

Kohli
Smith
Root
Williamson
Labuschange

The best of this generation so far.

Labu different generation IMO. Warner should be in top 5.

 

[JibranAnsari]

Labu different generation IMO. Warner should be in top 5.

You are right , labu is probably next.

Warner has not done very well away from home.

 

[Swashbuckler]

Let me get this straight, Kohli with less average than Ashwin, Axar, Saha for the last 2 years is a top 5 test bat? Heck number 8 Ashwin got a 2nd innings 100 on a sharp, turning pitch in Chennai early this year, Kohli's last 100 was against Bangladesh 26 months back. How much has Kohli PR paid Warney?

 

[Swashbuckler]

Weak phase for batting, Root is the only truly world class batsman at present. Rohit has been exceptional in all conditions since 2019 but he misses so many tests because of injury, unreliable because of that.

Smith averages around 40 the last 2 years. Didn't bat well against Pak, NZ, Ind all played on flat home pitches.

Williamson averages 11 away from home the last 2 years.

Labu has played almost all his matches at home. The way he batted against Ashwin last year, I don't think he will enjoy batting in SC next year.

Babar still unproven in test cricket. Probably not even the best in his team in this format.

Pant is weak against swing, struggled in NZ and Eng.

Kohli LOL

Taylor done, that shot he played in Mumbai OMG

Pujara done

Azhar Ali steep decline

Warner in steep decline, has lost his hand-eye

Stokes inconsistent, struggles in SC and against spin

Mayank HTB

Others like Latham, Karunaratne, Nicholls, Rahul, Rizwan, Mushfiqur, Kock, Elgar, Angelo, Fawad are decent but must do a lot more to be considered standout.

I think Conway has the tools to become world class but too raw in international cricket, and didn't play in India.

Not enough quality batsmen atm.

 

[Swashbuckler]

Labu isn't much different from Mayank atm. In fact Mayank's home pitches are tougher for batting and he has played half his tests in Australia and NZ. Rating Labu so high only shows the pro-SENA bias in the cricket world (many desis with inferiority complex promote this line of thinking). I am sure Labu will be rated high even if he fails in Pak, SL, Ind next year. But if an Asian player fails in a single SENA tour, he becomes HTB forever.

 

[WhenSultansBowled]

Labu isn't much different from Mayank atm. In fact Mayank's home pitches are tougher for batting and he has played half his tests in Australia and NZ. Rating Labu so high only shows the pro-SENA bias in the cricket world (many desis with inferiority complex promote this line of thinking). I am sure Labu will be rated high even if he fails in Pak, SL, Ind next year. But if an Asian player fails in a single SENA tour, he becomes HTB forever.

In that case Abid Ali > Warner.

I mean, why not? lols.

But you are absolutely spot on, Root might be the only world class batsman right now. Strange times.