Steve Smith is hands-down the best Test batsman today, better than Kohli, Root & Williamson
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Steve Smith is hands-down the best Test batsman today, better than Kohli, Root & Williamson

Former Australian captain Steve Smith has the best Test average since Don Bradman, and does better than his ‘Fab Four’ contemporaries on several other counts.

   
File photo of Former Australian captain Steve Smith | Twitter

File photo of Former Australian captain Steve Smith | Twitter

New Delhi: This decade in cricket has belonged to the ‘Fab Four’ of batting — Virat Kohli, Joe Root, Steve Smith and Kane Williamson. The debate about being the ‘best’ batsman of the generation has revolved around them pretty much since they rose through the youth ranks at around the same time, and all four have gone on to justify the hype with unfailing regularity.

However, which of them is actually the ‘best’, especially in the ultimate format of the game, Tests? At this moment, the answer is clear — Australia’s Smith is the first among equals.

At the end of the first Ashes Test in Birmingham, Smith had amassed 6,485 runs in 65 Tests (119 innings) with 25 centuries. That gives him an average of 62.96 — the second highest in the 142-year history of Test cricket behind Sir Don Bradman’s legendary 99.94.

But that’s not the only stat in which he leads his peers. All four have captained their countries for a fair amount of time, and Smith has the most runs at the helm. He also has the most centuries in winning causes.

Smith on top

Smith scored hundreds in back-to-back innings against England at Edgbaston last week, marking his grand return to Test cricket after serving his year-long ban for his role in ‘Sandpapergate’, when the Australians were caught ball-tampering against South Africa in Cape Town.

In the first innings, Smith almost single-handedly rescued Australia from a sorry-looking 122/8 to 284, with a magnificent 144, most of which came in the company of tail-enders. In the second essay, his 142 helped Australia turn around a significant first-innings deficit into a huge lead, which, in turn, led to a thumping 251-run victory on the final day.

In the course of his domination on the fourth day of the Test, former England batsman Robert Key called Smith the best cricketer of the current generation.

The numbers certainly say so. Smith’s Test average is nearly 10 points clear of Kohli’s 53.76, followed by New Zealand captain Williamson’s 53.38 and England Test captain Root’s 48.94.

Infographic by Arindam Mukherjee | ThePrint

Kohli has played 77 Tests before the series against the West Indies, 12 clear of Smith, and has also batted in 12 more innings. In terms of runs, he only just edges past Smith’s tally with 6,613, while they’re knotted together on the number of centuries — 25 each.

However, this means that Smith has scored the most centuries in the fewest innings, averaging 4.76 innings per century.

Root actually has the highest run tally of the four with 6,803, but he’s played 151 innings in 82 Tests. Williamson brings up the rear, with 6,139 runs in 72 matches (127 innings). Root is the least prolific century-maker of the lot with 16, while Williamson has 20.


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Match-winning hundreds

Smith has the most hundreds in winning causes among his peers — 16. However, in terms of percentages, Root trumps the rest, with 13 of his 16 hundreds resulting in wins. Kohli has scored 11 match-winning hundreds, while Williamson has scored 12.

In terms of scoring a century and remaining unbeaten, Smith again leads the way with seven, followed by Williamson (6), Root (4) and Kohli (1).

Kohli the king of ‘daddy hundreds’

Kohli is no doubt the king of ODI batting, but in Tests, he only scores over his peers on one count — converting his centuries into massive scores, the so-called ‘daddy hundreds’. He has nine 150-plus scores, Smith has seven, while Root and Williamson have six.

Performances as captain

Up until Smith was banned for ‘Sandpapergate’, all four men were captains of their national sides. And even as captain, Smith has the best record, with 3,659 runs at a mind-boggling average of 70.37 in 34 Tests. Williamson and Kohli have also stepped up their games as captain — the Kiwi has 2,102 runs at 63.70 in 24 matches, while the Indian captain has 4,515 runs at 62.71 in 46 matches. Root, meanwhile, has 2,209 runs at 42.48 in 29 Tests as skipper.

In terms of their results as captains, Williamson’s 24 Tests feature 14 wins and five losses. Smith won 18 and lost 10 of his 34 games in charge, while the number for Kohli is 26 wins and 10 defeats in 46 matches. Root’s 29 matches have seen 15 wins and 12 losses.


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