After the retirement of cricket legends like Sachin Tendulkar, Jacques Kallis, Mahela Jayawardene, Ricky Ponting , Kumar Sangakkara and many others, there is a big debate on who is the batting great in this modern era. Whether it is Virat Kohli, Kane Williamson, Aussie captain Steve Smith or Joe Root?
With the previous generation, these young lads are also on course to being next legends in the game of cricket. More than the others, these four young batsmen have shown special skills in their brief careers.
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All four batsmen are in the top 10 in ICC rankings. They have remarkably similar numbers. These young lads didn’t start their careers well, but now they are the back-bone of their batting line-up. Teams are over dependent on these players. They are a real luxury to have in any format.
Looking at the stats of these players in test cricket, all four players are averaging 50+ in their test careers.
Smith has not performed well in the sub-continent pitches against the quality spin. That’s the reason why Australia lost the test series against Sri Lanka on their home turf.
However, the likes of Kohli, Williamson & Root have been very successful against spin. Except for in England, Kohli has performed everywhere. In that England tour of 2014, the English bowlers kept bowling at Kohli’s weakness and got his wicket every time.
Smith had a good England tour. In 2015, Steve Smith has scored couple of fine centuries to help them recover from precarious positions. Like Kohli, Williamson also had an ordinary series in England. All the three batsmen have hit at least one century in England except Virat Kohli.
Williamson is very much above his contemporaries when it comes to scoring those big hundreds. His conversion rate is higher than Root, Smith and Kohli.Kolhi, Williamson and Root easily take the mantle as most of their centuries have come away from home.
In the ODI’s, they all stand on the same level with all of them with similar records. Kohli has played more matches it is obvious that he would have scored more runs. He enjoys a healthier average than Smith, Root and Williamson.
Virat Kohli is India’s leading run scorer in T20s. He is the only fourth Indian to complete 1000 runs. He has been in terrific form. He was instrumental in winning the Asia T20 cup and three match T20 series against the Aussies down under. He is the key player for Indiaand is the only player to average 50+ in all the 3 formats.
Unlike Kohli, the other three have yet not established themselves in this shorter format. They can’t be called as T20 specialists.
These young lads are good on the field as well. They are electrifying fielders and they are handy bowlers as well. They can break a much needed partnership when required. They are so called part timers in the field but can give their teams the much-needed breakthrough.
These players have also contributed to the Indian Premier League, especially, Smith and Kohli, who are the most wanted players.
