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Business News/ Mint-lounge / Features/  Test cricket’s awesome foursome
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Test cricket’s awesome foursome

As Virat Kohli gets ready to lead the Indian Test side in Sri Lanka, a look at the quartet that rules the game today

(From left) Virat Kohli, New Zealand’s Kane Williamson, Australia’s Steven Smith, England’s Joe Root. Photographs by Philip Brown/Reuters; Gareth Copley/Getty Images; Cameron Spencer/Getty ImagesPremium
(From left) Virat Kohli, New Zealand’s Kane Williamson, Australia’s Steven Smith, England’s Joe Root. Photographs by Philip Brown/Reuters; Gareth Copley/Getty Images; Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

About a year ago, former New Zealand captain Martin Crowe wrote a captivating piece for cricket website Espncricinfo on the battle for supremacy among the young batsmen in the next decade. Crowe chose to focus on Test cricket, and he came up with four names: “In an exercise to crystal-gaze into the future, let’s look at four young tyros who have shown themselves to be the leading young bucks in Test cricket today," he wrote. “Kane Williamson from New Zealand, Virat Kohli from India, Joe Root from England and Steven Smith from Australia. No one from the other countries quite matches these players so far."

Crowe was, as cricket commentators often say, “bang on". Since the time he wrote the piece, these four cricketers have gone from strength to strength, and one of them, Kohli, will embark on his first full tour as a captain against Sri Lanka from 12 August. They are consistently among the top 10 batsmen in Tests (though Kohli is at No.11 on the International Cricket Council’s rankings list at the moment). Kohli, though, is the only one among the four who has had an equally powerful influence in the other formats of the game, One Day Internationals (ODIs) and Twenty20s (T20s). He is No.4 in ODIs and No.2 in T20s.

Williamson is also among top 10 batsmen in ODIs (at No.5), while Root and Smith are among the top 15 (at No.12 and No.13, respectively). While Smith doesn’t feature in the top 100 batsmen in T20 cricket, Williamson is at No.25, and Root, at No.54.

This is reminiscent of the wonderful decade of the 1990s when Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara, Ricky Ponting and Inzamam-ul-Haq divided and enthralled cricket lovers in equal measure. Over a period of time, the Pakistani great faded from the debate of the greatest of that generation (his away Test record was a big let-down). Tendulkar and Lara suffered from captaincy blues, while Ponting elevated himself with extra responsibility. Ultimately, Tendulkar’s durability and machine-like consistency fetched him a record 100 international hundreds. Yet Lara’s genius with the bat and Ponting’s prowess as both captain and player is never spoken of in lesser terms.

Kohli and Smith will certainly extend the great tradition of Indo-Australian batting duels which started with Allan Border and Sunil Gavaskar, and continued with the Tendulkar-Ponting rivalry. The last time the two teams played each other, whatever Kohli did, Smith did a little better, and that eventually won Australia a hard-fought Test series earlier this year. Both scored four centuries each in a four-match series but Smith got 769 runs at an average of 128.16, while Kohli scored 692 at an average of 86.5.

Even the Australians, so hard with their praise and so liberal with mental games aimed at bringing down opponents, were smitten by Kohli.

“I have always loved his attitude," Ponting said during the 2015 World Cup. “I like the way he plays. His aggressive nature does remind me a bit of myself more than anything else. I like his aggression."

During the world cup, which ended in March, Kohli scored a match-winning hundred against Pakistan, which put the Indian campaign in winning mode and impressed the former Australian captain. “He has got that winning attitude. He believes in himself and I love watching him play. He has done some amazing things already. Look at his ODI record. It’s incredible," said Ponting.

In Test cricket, Smith (58.52) and Root (54.02) have superior averages to Kohli’s (45.73) and Williamson’s (45.70). In ODIs, Kohli leaves everyone behind with an average of 50.66 and a strike rate of 89.59, followed by Williamson’s average of 47.41 and a strike rate of 84.64.

“They all are incredibly good and will certainly dominate world cricket for the next 10-15 years," says former England captain David Gower.

Smith’s batting in the shortest format has a long way to go—in 21 T20 matches, he averages 14 at a strike rate of 106.32; Kohli is again miles ahead (28 matches, an average of 46.28 and a strike rate of 131.70). Unlike most English batsmen, Root is comfortable in this format (10 matches, an average of 41.83 and a strike rate of 131.41) and will seriously challenge Kohli.

“Maintaining one’s game while playing three different formats is the most challenging aspect confronting the modern-day batsman," says Crowe in his article. The previous generation had to face the challenge of two formats, the current batch will have to maintain consistency in three formats but also be successful in various T20 leagues across the world (the Indian Premier League being the most important one). This is bound to put them under enormous pressure since much of their brand value and real money will come from these leagues.

Except for Root, all the batsmen played in the 2008 under-19 World Cup, showing signs of their talent at an early age. Kohli led the Indian team to triumph, and was one of the top three scorers in that tournament. But until a couple of years ago, Smith was seen primarily as a leg spinner or, at best, a bowling all-rounder. He has made a staggering leap in Test cricket since, stealing a march over the other three, because it is in the Test arena that a cricketer’s greatness is judged for posterity. It took the Australian 23 innings to score his first century, but then he hit a dazzlingly rich vein of form and now has the most runs after 30 Tests in the history of cricket, just behind Donald Bradman (3,969 runs at an average of 92.30) and Everton Weekes (2,938 runs at an average of 61.2).

For contemporary cricketers, Kohli and Smith are both colleagues and role models. India’s opener Ajinkya Rahane told this writer recently that he wanted to emulate Kohli’s hunger for success and Smith’s incredible consistency.

Williamson is also being rated highly. Crowe himself has predicted that the youngster could be the greatest cricketer ever to come out of New Zealand, while Gower is delighted with the early signs of greatness by Root.

“Root has got the potential, right temperament and obvious skills. I am confident that he will be a very fine player," says Gower.

“The last 12 months have been exceptional for Smith and I am also mighty impressed with Williamson," says Gower, when asked to choose one among the four as his pick for the best batsman now.

While Smith and Root are battling it out in the ongoing Ashes series (Smith seems to be winning this one easily), Kohli will find out what it is like to maintain consistency as a batsman while handling the additional responsibility of leadership.

Vimal Kumar is the author of The Cricket Fanatic’s Essential Guide and Sachin: Cricketer Of The Century.

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Published: 29 Jul 2015, 08:16 PM IST
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