Cricket's Fab Four: Kohli, Williamson, Smith, and Root — The Defining Test Generation
The parallel careers of Virat Kohli, Kane Williamson, Steve Smith, and Joe Root — the Fab Four who defined Test batting from 2012 to 2024, their statistics, their styles, and the debate over who is the greatest.
The term 'Fab Four' entered cricket discourse around 2015 to describe the four batters who were simultaneously the best in the world: Virat Kohli (India), Kane Williamson (New Zealand), Steve Smith (Australia), and Joe Root (England). Their careers have run in near-parallel from approximately 2012 to the present, each achieving Test averages above 50, each scoring over 8,000 Test runs, and each making match-defining contributions across all conditions. The debate over who is the greatest among them is one of cricket's most scrutinised ongoing conversations.
The Four Careers in Summary
Joe Root holds the most Test runs of the four, having surpassed 12,000 Test runs by 2024 and continuing to bat at extraordinary levels in his mid-thirties. His average of approximately 50 has been sustained across all conditions. Steve Smith averaged over 61 in Tests until a dip around 2022-23, a figure unmatched in the modern era, built on an unorthodox technique — shuffle across the crease, heavy back-foot movement — that confounded bowlers for a decade. His ban for the 2018 Sandpapergate ball-tampering scandal interrupted 12 months of his peak career. Virat Kohli scored 8,848 Test runs at 48.10 across 113 Tests, with 29 Test centuries and a reputation for chase-batting that is unrivalled in the format. Kane Williamson contributed 8,192 Test runs at 54.84 — the highest average of the four — while also captaining New Zealand to their first ICC World Test Championship title in 2021.
Technical Differences: Four Styles
Each of the Fab Four bats differently. Steve Smith's unconventional back-foot technique involves a significant shuffle toward off stump before the bowler delivers, then a secondary movement back across to leg as the ball arrives — a method that confuses bowlers' lines and generates scoring options that orthodox footwork doesn't provide. Virat Kohli's technique is orthodox but intense: his back-and-across movement, high elbow, and particularly strong game through the on side make him especially dangerous when the ball is brought into his body. He averages significantly higher in chases, suggesting that pressure elevates his performance. Kane Williamson is the most classical of the four — high backlift, full use of the crease, elegant timing through both sides of the wicket — and is considered technically the soundest on difficult surfaces. Joe Root's technique has evolved to incorporate a significant front-foot drive game supplemented by a sweep and reverse-sweep against spin that has become one of the most discussed individual batting developments in recent cricket.
The Greatest Debate
The debate over who is the greatest of the four is genuinely unresolved and may remain so. Smith holds the highest average. Root holds the most runs and continues to accumulate. Kohli's peak form (approximately 2014-2019) produced the most dominant sustained run in the group, including 11 Test centuries in 2017 alone. Williamson's combination of batting and captaincy — bringing a small-pool nation to a World Test Championship title — represents a contextually adjusted achievement that pure batting statistics don't capture. Most objective analysts rank Smith and Root slightly ahead of Kohli and Williamson on the combined basis of volume and average, while acknowledging that Kohli's peak and Williamson's average are the most eye-catching individual data points.
Frequently asked questions
Among the Fab Four, which batter will ultimately be judged the greatest, and how does historical context affect the comparison?
Ranking the Fab Four is the most actively contested ranking debate in contemporary cricket, and the honest answer is that different evaluation frameworks produce different results — meaning the 'greatest' judgment depends significantly on which variables you prioritise. The case for Joe Root: Root's case rests primarily on volume and longevity. By 2024 he had scored more Test runs than any of the other three, and showed no sign of slowing down in his mid-thirties. Sustained excellence over fifteen-plus years in Tests — including 12,000+ runs while batting for a mid-table England side for much of his career — is an extraordinary achievement. Critics of the Root-first ranking note that his average (approximately 50) is the lowest of the four, and that he batted in a relatively weak England batting line-up that may have faced less intense bowling pressure than batters in stronger teams (a contested point, since England's frequent poor team performances arguably increased rather than decreased the bowling quality he faced). The case for Steve Smith: Smith's average of approximately 58 in Tests is the highest in the modern era by a significant margin — and the highest for any batter who has played more than 50 Tests since Don Bradman. Average is the most direct measure of a batter's difficulty-adjusted output, and Smith's lead in this metric is substantial. His critics note that his technique — which works through movement and unconventional adjustment — may be more vulnerable to high-quality seam bowling on excellent surfaces than his record suggests, and that the Sandpapergate ban removed 12 months of what were likely his best years. The case for Virat Kohli: Kohli's peak (2014-2019) produced runs at a rate and with a consistency that the others have not matched in specific windows of peak form. His 30 centuries in approximately 90 Tests during that period — and particularly his record in overseas conditions, with centuries in England, Australia, and South Africa — demonstrates quality across all surfaces. He also averages approximately 55 in second-innings chases (higher than his overall 48.10), a context-specific excellence that suggests he performs better under pressure than his overall average shows. The case for Kane Williamson: Williamson's average of 54.84 is the second-highest of the four, and he has achieved it playing for New Zealand — a nation with a smaller talent pool and fewer home advantages than India, England, or Australia. His captaincy contribution (WTC 2021 title) adds a dimension the others lack to this date. Critics note that his volume (currently lowest of the four) reflects fewer Test opportunities for New Zealand rather than lesser individual quality. The framework conclusion: if you rank by average, Smith leads. By volume, Root. By peak, Kohli. By complete contribution (batting plus captaincy), Williamson. There is no framework that simultaneously satisfies all of these criteria, which is precisely why the debate continues.