CT Stats: Kohli v Williamson v Smith v Root - Who stands taller?

Over the years, cricket has witnessed eras that are dominated by rivalries between players who mastered the same art – be it batting or bowling or all-rounder’s skills. Apart from Sir Don Bradman who had eclipsed everybody else (thanks to that incredible average of 99.94) during his own era and those that followed, there are several instances of fascinating rivalries between ace cricketers who played at the same time.

The Sachin Tendulkar-Brian Lara debate is one such rivalry in the modern-day cricket. In bowling, both Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralidharan had equal claims to become the ‘greatest ever’ while in case of all-rounders, the quadrilateral contest between Richard Hadlee, Imran Khan, Kapil Dev and Ian Botham had been a captivating one.

The current times similarly see another quadrilateral comparison if not yet a competition gaining currency and this time, it is between four young batsmen. They are Virat Kohli (India), Kane Williamson (New Zealand), Steven Smith (Australia) and Joe Root (England).

Three of these four (except Root who is also seen as the future England skipper) are already in charge of their respective national sides, which shows the trust the national selectors have put on their young but broad shoulders. Kohli certainly has a better record among the three captains but as players, the others are ahead of him on many counts.

A comparison between the Fantastic Four (till the beginning of Kanpur Test):

All four made their debut around the same time (between 2010 and 2012) have played roughly the same number of Tests (Williamson 52, Root 46, Kohli 45 and Smith 44). But in terms of runs and average, Kohli is trailing them all and is not ranked in the top 10 in the ICC list at the moment (he is at 16 at the moment). The three others, on the other hand, occupy the top three positions.

Here is a look at their batting stats:

Williamson has played most number of innings:

The Kiwi skipper has played 95 innings in 52 matches while Root and Smith have played 84 and 81 innings so far. Kohli has played 76 innings on the other hand. He also trails the three others in terms of remaining not outs (only four against Williamson’s nine and the other two’s 11 each).

Williamson, too, leads the pack in the number of runs scored:

The New Zealander, one of the best in the modern-day game, has scored more runs than three of his competitors. While Smith and Root have crossed 4,000 runs in Tests with Williamson, Kohli is behind with just over 3200 runs.

He also trails the three in terms of average. While the Indian Test skipper’s average is 45.06, Smith’s figures read 58.55, Root’s 54.86 and Williamson’s 51.08.

Kohli’s highest score is the least among the three:

Kohli’s highest score in Tests is 200, which he recently scored against the West Indies abroad. Joe Root leads the gang here with a highest score of 254 which he hammered against Pakistan recently while Williamson is second with an unbeaten 242. Smith’s best score is 215.

It’s even-steven in centuries:

The four young talents have almost equal number of Test tons so far. While Smith has 15 to his credit till now, Williamson is at second with 14, Kohli third with 12 and Root a close fourth with 10.

Kohli has hit least number of boundaries in Tests:

Williamson (474), Smith (449) and Root (447) have hit the fences more number of times than Kohli (380) in Tests. In terms of big hits, the exciting Australian skipper leads the way with 30 of them. Root (14), Kohli (10) and Williamson (eight) have shown more restraint in Tests.

Williamson is the best bowler among the four:

The Kiwi, who is an off-break bowler, also has 29 wickets to his credit in Tests. Smith has 16 while Root 13. Kohli has no Test scalps so far.

Williamson had the best debut:

Again a high for Williamson. He scored a century (131) on debut against India in 2010, the eighth New Zealander overall. Root is the second best with 73 while Smith (1) and Kohli (4) had ordinary beginnings.

Performance against countries:

Now, let’s have a look at how the big four have done against various opponents and in venues and under varying conditions.

Kohli has done the best against Australia:

Thanks to his fruitful tour Down Under in 2014-15, Kohli has the best record among the three (Smith, of course, is out of contention here). He has amassed 1276 runs in 12 matches against Australia with an average of 60.76 and six centuries. His highest score against Australia is 169, which was a valiant effort in Melbourne in 2014.

Williamson comes second in performance against the Aussies with a total of 642 runs in seven matches. His average is 49.38, highest score 166 and has two hundreds.

Root, on the other hand, has hit 991 runs against Australia with an average of 41.29 and highest score of 180. He has hit three tons against the same opponents.

In Asia, Root has the best average:

The talented English batsman has the best average (63.33) in Asia followed by Williamson (48.86), Kohli (42.21) and Smith (41.57). The Indian, however, has scored the most runs (1,315) in Asia for he has played the most Tests (22) here. Williamson is second with 1,075 runs in 13 matches. Smith and Root have 582 and 380 runs in seven and four matches, respectively.

Home vs away stats:

Kohli is the only among these four batsmen to have a better away batting record, albeit slightly. The rest are all better players at home. Smith has the best average both at home (67.30) and away (57.63).

Best and worst averages:

Smith’s 165.66 average is the highest among all four against a particular opponent. Root comes then with 101.83 versus India. Kohli’s 72.50 against New Zealand is the fourth best as Williamson has 91.88 average against Sri Lanka.

Worst on opponents’ soil:

Kohli, on the other hand, has a horrendous average of 13.40 in England. Root has done worst in New Zealand with just 17.60 while Williamson’s worst happened in South Africa (21.16). Smith’s worst figures are far better though – 41.16 in Sri Lanka.

Innings-wise performance:

Williamson has proved to be the best player in the fourth innings of a Test match. He has an average of 64.57 playing in the final innings of the match while Kohli has an equally impressive record of 60.81. Root’s fourth-innings average is 40 while Smith’s is 33.16.

Smith, however, turns the table when the first-innings figures are compared. His average is 88.08 while Root has 62.85, Kohli 49.32 and Williamson 43.15.

Also read- India plays 500th Test: Quantity is great, but quality?

Best batting positions:

For Williamson, batting at No.3 has fetched 3,874 runs while for Kohli, most runs (1,884) have come at No.4. Root and Smith have succeeded the most batting at No.5 with the former doing better (1,755 against 1,228).

If ODI numbers are added, Kohli is a distant winner

Picking the best from among these four players becomes difficult for there has been very little difference in their performances while playing pace or spin, at home or abroad or against various opponents. However, Kohli leads the way by far if the one-day numbers are also added to the Test figures.

Williamson deserves a special mention

But Williamson certainly deserves a special mention. The batsman has not only put various records under danger but the fact that he comes from New Zealand, a country which has not been known for many record-making individuals (excepting a Richard Hadlee or a Martin Crowe) unlike India, Australia or England, makes him special.

Who according to you is the best Test player in this Fantastic four?

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