Cricket has evolved so much that everyone is busy making their World XI or some kind of other team during this lockdown.
So I have decided to make a new fab four in world cricket.
The quartet of Steve Smith, Joe Root, Kane Williamson and Virat Kohli is popularly acclaimed as the fab four in world cricket due to their performances in all three formats. All bat at the same position, at number three in limited overs and at number four in Tests.
So with changing times and changing performances, this list must also change because some new players are knocking on the door and old guns are losing their place because of their dismal performance.
This is a list of batsmen only considering their performance across all three formats. Here is my new fab four in world cricket.
1. Virat Kohli
86 Tests, 7240 runs at 53.63, 27 centuries
248 ODIs, 11,867 runs at 59.34, 43 centuries
82 T20Is, 2794 runs at 50.80, 24 fifties
The first player who is just ruthless in all three formats is Virat Kohli. With 70 centuries in international cricket, he is the only player having averaged above 50 in all three formats. He is currently at number one in the ODI rankings and number two in Tests.
After making his debut in 2008, he didn’t look back. He doesn’t think of failure. In 2015 he was named captain of India in Tests and India kept the number one position in Tests for almost three years under his captaincy.
The main reason behind his success is determination and passion for the game. He has not put himself above the game and kept game his top priority. His class, timing and temperament make him a world-class batsman.
(Photo by Morne de Klerk/Getty Images)
2. Kane Williamson
80 Tests, 6476 runs at 50.99, 21 centuries
151 ODIs, 6173 runs at 47.48, 13 centuries
60 T20Is, 1665 runs at 32.64, 11 fifties
New Zealand captain Kane Williamson is at number two in my fab four. He was the captain of New Zealand in the 2019 World Cup, where they ended being runner-up. He was awarded the player of the tournament award.
He is currently the best Kiwi player, having an average of 50.99 in Tests and 47.48 in ODIs. His best quality is calmness, which grooms him as a batsman and as a captain also.
He is a successful batsman in Asian conditions because he handles spin very well. Most of the overseas batsman struggles against spin in Asia. Due to this ability, I ranked him above Steve Smith and Joe Root, who are not as good under these conditions.
3. Babar Azam
26 Tests, 1850 runs at 45.12, five centuries
74 ODIs, 3359 runs at 54.17, 11 centuries
38 T20Is, 1471 runs at 50.72, 13 fifties
The first new entry in my fab four is Babar Azam in place of Joe Root, who has lost his form during the past year, making way for a new player to join this club. Babar Azam had a superb last year that resulted in becoming the captain in limited-overs cricket.
From an average batsman, he has transformed himself into a fixture in Pakistan’s middle-order. He has scored runs in almost every country.
He was the leading run-scorer for Pakistan in the 2019 World Cup. He has an average of almost 50 in all formats and is the only player in the top five of the rankings across all three formats. That’s the main reason that influences me to add him to this list and to exclude Root due to his poor form during the previous year.
(Harry Trump-IDI/IDI via Getty Images)
4. David Warner
84 Tests, 7244 runs at 48.94, 24 centuries
123 ODIs, 5267 runs at 45.80, 18 centuries
79 T20Is, 2207 runs at 31.52, 17 fifties and a century
The next player in this list who is replacing Steve Smith is David Warner. He is an explosive player, who has developed his dominance across all formats. He started as an aggressive opener in T20 cricket but transformed his technique and became the Test cricketer.
We have seen his destructive approach in Tests also. He is one of the few batsmen to score a century before lunch in Test cricket. Even some of the best bowlers struggled against him when bats in the flow.
The main reason for Smith’s exclusion is the ban, which kept him away from cricket for one year. Now he has made his comeback and started performing well, especially the Ashes series, where he was the leading run-scorer.
I hope he’ll again make this list soon.
Fhfb
Guest
:thumbup:
Hhahaj
Guest
:thumbup: this fab 4 is good but instead of David Warner i should want to see Rohit Sharma ia this fab four or Smith but not David Warner because you can see average David Warner avarge is some equal in odi and T20 but test Smith was best and Rohit is talented he his average in three formats is more than David Warner only in test Smith beat Rohit Soni would Rohit Sharma in this fab 4 and Smith fab 5
I AM TARAN
Roar Rookie
Good.But,Just like Anush Told Babar Azam Doesn't Play so much tests and his average is not like too much.But,Even after the Ban Steve Smith returns like fire and he blazzed in the shes Test series against England. My prediction for the Fab four for tests is... 1.Virat Kohli 2.Ben Stokes 3.Steve Smith and 4.marnus Lambuschange And for ODI's 1.Virat Kohli 2.David Warner 3.Kane Williamson 4.Ben Stokes And for t20's 1.Dawid Malan 2.David Warner 3.Jos Buttler 4.Glenn Maxwell My prediction For the Captains for the fab four is t20's 1.Eoin Morgan 2.Virat kohli 3.Kane Williamson 4.Steve Smith ODI's 1.Eoin Morgan 2.Virat Kohli 3.Kane Williamson 4.Steve Smith Tests 1.Tim Paine 2.Kane Williamson 3.Steve Smith 4.Virat Kohli
Chikoo
Guest
Fab 4 is not taken by Tests only, but there's another two formats of game. I know Steven Smith is the monster of test form, while he's almost opposite in ODI's and T20 cricket thats' failure.
Anush
Roar Rookie
Yeah, I didn't note it, bro. Good clarification for the readers
Anush
Roar Rookie
But Smith has good performances in the recent compared to Babar and Warner had a poor Ashes.
Anush
Roar Rookie
Yeah but I don't know why he left Smith out? Even a baby could tell that Smith is the best.
Anush
Roar Rookie
agree..... Too bad leaving Smith. Although he was banned he has returned superbly and also regretted his actions. :stoked:
Anush
Roar Rookie
Labushchagne will surely be in the fab 4 of the future. My predictions for the future will be Marnus, KL Rahul, Markram, Pooran
Anush
Roar Rookie
But, why put Babar, Smith has more stats than Azam. Azam hasn't played more tests and runs than Smith. Smith is definitely in the fab 4. I think Joe Root's exclusion is ok as he isn't performing well in either format. Maybe Rohit Sharma could come in if someone doesn't fit. He has also returned to tests scoring hundreds and double-hundreds :thumbup:
Mooty
Roar Rookie
Kohli and Smith are on a level by themselves. Warner and Williamson score the majority of their runs at home, whereas Azam as good as he seems is still young and the Sub Continent has a habit of talking up champions too early. As far as the sand paper issue with Smith and Warner is concerned, CA totally mishandled that situation and left those three players out to dry. No one at CA was willing to do the hard work and go into damage control to protect the players, and it all blew out of proportion.
DHRUV GROVER
Roar Rookie
Remove Joe Root - no one bats an eye. Remove Smith- everyone looses their mind. Smith's batsmanship is beyond doubt but I think it would be better if we define how much weightage we need to give to each format and then away and home record. Looking at raw numbers sometimes paints a biased picture. It would also be interesting to see what are Rohit Sharma's numbers in the past year or so. He had a monstrous world cup and a Renaissance in test cricket.
Chris Love
Roar Guru
My thoughts exactly. Marnus hit form in ODI’s too. Albeit with limited attempts so far. The fab 4 was a test cliche anyway. For tests I’d definitely have Kohli, Smith and Marnus as the three best test bats over the last 12 months. There’s a little bit of daylight and arguments to be made over who squeezes into 4th. Warner would be in the conversation but his Ashes is definitely a negative mark. I’d probably have Rahane based off of 2019’s numbers.
Chris Love
Roar Guru
You have to be kidding right? Steve Smith was the captain. The buck stops with him. It’s called leadership and both of them failed miserably.
Brasstax
Guest
To elaborate on my point, if I were an opposition captain against India, Kohli would be my most prized wicket in tests, ODIs and T20s though Rohit definitely is too in the shorter formats. Kohli consistently wins matches singlehandedly for his team in ghe shorter formats. The same cannot be said of Smith though he is definitely playing all short form games for Australia. Undoubtedly his is the most prized Aussie test wicket, but as an opposition captain against Australia in the shorter formats I would consider Finch and Warner to be eminently more dangerous and the more likely to take the game away.
Brasstax
Guest
This is a fab four across all 3 formats if I am not mistaken. In that case, Steve Smith struggles to be included in the top 5 ODI batsmen and does not feature among top 10 T20 batsmen. Kohli is clearly the best overall batsman period. Williamson and Root exchange places at 2 and 3 depending on form. Smith is the best test batsman no question. But there are several better short form batsmen than him the world over. India alone has 2 better short form batsmen in Dhawan and Rohit and 3 if you include KL Rahul.
Save_the_Earth
Roar Rookie
its the most popular format where the average attendences are far greater than other formats
Buk
Guest
Hi Muhammad Thanks for the interesting article, and highlighting Babar Azam's achievements. I'd probably still rate Kohli and Smith as 1 and 2, due to Warner's poor Ashes. Certainly a luxury to be able to say Smith's (relatively) poor form in some games due his coming in at 1 wicket down for several hundred.
Lukas Overhoff
Guest
I know
Lukas Overhoff
Guest
David warner should of got banned not steve smith