Competition gets tougher among Test cricket’s Fab Four as Root and Williamson hit centuries in Wellington Test

England’s Joe Root and Kiwi star Kane Williamson scored centuries for their respective teams in the ongoing Wellington Test to raise the bar, thus enhancing competition among Test cricket’s Fabulous Four, which includes Australia’s Steve Smith and India’s Virat Kohli as well.

Four top cricketers from four different countries have been bossing the game in the red-ball format during the last decade, prompting many cricket pundits to coin the term ‘The Fabulous Four’ for them. All of them are in their early 30s, and, possibly past their prime, but the competition amongst them to score the most number of centuries seems to be getting tougher by the day.

Steve Smith, Joe Root Virat Kohli, and Kane Williamson from Australia, England, India, and New Zealand respectively are described as modern-day Test cricket’s ‘Fab Four’. Some voices have been pushing for the inclusion of Pakistan’s Babar Azam in the coveted list, though.

Meanwhile, in the ongoing Wellington Test, Joe Root and Kane Williamson scored centuries for their teams respectively. Root notched up his 29th Test century while Williamson his 26th. As India and Australia have two more Tests to go in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, both batters will be keen to perform well and add to their Test centuries’ tally.

Currently, Smith is leading his fellow cricketers in the decorated list with 30 centuries; England’s Root is second with 29 while Virat Kohli has 27 Test centuries to his name. Williamson after scoring his 26th century is not far behind.

Unfortunately for Indian fans, Kohli has not hit a century in Tests since November 2019. It is a matter of concern for the legendary batter, too. Cricketers of Kohli’s stature are produced once in a generation, but even the batters of his class and experience struggle with poor form at times.

Kohli scored his last century (136) in Tests more than three years ago against Bangladesh at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata. Since 25 November 2019, Kohli has featured in 23 Tests in six different countries but failed to register a three-digit score. During this period, Kohli has not been able to make a double-digit score in at least nine innings, which include four ducks. It has been a prolonged drought for him.

Though in the last 20 Tests, 34 innings, the Indian superstar did manage six 50s, his batting average has significantly dropped to 29.26 from 49.20. Worryingly, Kohli’s strike rate has also come down from 55 to 42.

However, all is not lost for Kohli. He regained some form in the white ball formats (ODIs and T20Is). After his ODI century way back in August 2019, Kohli registered another ODI ton in December last year in a match against Bangladesh in Chattogram. Similarly, in September 2022, Kohli smashed his first T20I century in a match against Afghanistan.

Notably, England’s Joe Root has amassed 10,853 runs in 129 Tests laced with 29 centuries. In 94 Tests, Steve Smith has made 8718 runs with 30 centuries. Kohli in 106 Tests has made 8195 runs with 27 centuries. Lastly, Williamson has amassed 7787 runs in 92 Tests, laced with 26 tons.

It would be interesting to see how Smith and Kohli perform in the remaining two Tests during the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy in India.

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