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Who’s the best batsman: Smith, Kohli, Root or Williamson?

18th February, 2018
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Virat Kohli could be the greatest Indian cricketer of all time. (AP Photo/Rui Vieira)
Expert
18th February, 2018
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What a coincidence that the current four top batsmen in Tests and ODIs are captains.

They are Steve Smith from Australia, Virat Kohli from India, Joe Root from England and Kane Williamson from New Zealand, and it’s debatable who the best of the four is. That is why I have presented their statistics in the two tables below.

Batting record: Tests

Players Tests Runs Average Highest Strike Rate 100s 100s/Test
Smith 61 6057 63.75 239 55.76 23 0.377
Kohli 66 5554 53.4 243 58.26 21 0.318
Root 65 5701 53.28 254 55.76 13 0.2
Williamson 63 5214 50.62 242* 50.51 17 0.27

Smith and Kohli stand out. Smith has the best batting average and the most number of centuries, and he also has the best century-per-Test rate among the four. Kohli has the highest strike rate.

(Philip Brown/Getty Images)

Batting record: ODIs

Players ODIs Runs Average Highest Strike Rate 100s 100s/ODI
Smith 108 3431 41.84 164 86.35 8 0.074
Kohli 208 9588 58.1 183 92.14 35 0.168
Root 102 4226 50.91 133* 86.79 10 0.098
Williamson 123 4977 46.51 145* 83.56 10 0.081
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Unlike for the Tests, there is a clear winner in the ODIs: Kohli. It’s because of him as the captain and a batsman that India is ranked number one in Tests and ODIs.

Skipper Virat Kohli was outstanding in the away ODI series against South Africa, leading India to a first-ever series win (5-1) on Proteas turf. It was a whopping victory thanks to his 558 runs – he had a high score of 160 not out – at 168.00 and his strike rate of 99.46, hitting three centuries at 0.5 century per ODI.

At the post-match press conference on Friday night after India defeated South Africa by eight wickets in Centurion to win the series 5-1 Kohli said that, “At this stage I don’t feel like competing with anyone.

“It’s my job. I am supposed to do what I am doing and I am not doing anyone a favour.

“It’s all about how I prepare before the game and what my work ethics are and how I am feeling on game day. My only motivation is to get into that frame of mind.”

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