The End Begins for The Battle of World Cricket’s Fabulous Four

"All four have similar talent, hunger, ambition and responsibility. All four will go on to captain their countries. All four will reach peak form in a few years' time, and then the real battle will commence as to who will be the No. 1 batsman in the world."

In 2014, great former New Zealand captain late Martin Crowe proclaimed Joe Root, Virat Kohli, Steve Smith and Kane Williamson to be "modern ‘fabulous four’ of Test cricket" in a column for ESPNcricinfo

Crow is no more in the world but most of his words came true.

Each of them went on to captain their nation and achieved significant landmarks on the cricket field.

Steven Smith, Virat Kohli, Kane Williamson and Joe Root, the ‘Fab Four’ of modern day cricket earned their right to the moniker due to their incredible consistency over the years. They had supposedly overtaken the likes of Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers and many more with their gargantuan hunger for runs and unending quest for challenges.

Multiple greats of world cricket come together to dominate an era. In the 1980s, the term "Fab Four" in cricket referred to a group of highly talented all-rounders with the quartet of Kapil Dev, Ian Botham, Richard Hadlee and Imran Khan that is still talked about.

If we look at the 1990s, the most famous batting rivalry then was between Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara who along with Steve Waugh were the leading batsmen and match winners of their sides and played through the decade even captaining their respective teams.

If we went back in time 15 years before the current Fab four and had to pick out such a combination of players who were potentially among the best and Ricky Ponting, Rahul Dravid, Jacques Kallis and Sourav Ganguly were central figures in international cricket during the 90s. They set high standards for batting excellence, similar to how Kohli, Williamson, Smith, and Root are viewed in the current era.

They were around the same age, made their debuts close together and scored similar runs. Although two of them (Dravid and Ganguly) are from the same country.

Three of them went on to score over 13,000 Test runs and are at numbers 2, 3 and 4 in the all-time leading run getters list.

The last decade the world witnessed the best of Kohli, Root, Williamson and Smith as they not only captained their respective teams to incredible heights but also became bonafide legends. From 2014 onward, they have eclipsed everyone else and even now, 11 years later, as they enter the final phase of their careers, Kohli, Root, Williamson and Smith continue to reign supreme.

Among the Fab Four, Virat is the first to retire, which now puts him behind the remaining three in terms of active milestones.

Virat Kohli played a total of 123 Test matches, scoring 30 centuries in his career. The remaining Fab Four members have all scored more centuries than Kohli in Tests.

England’s Joe Root has played 152 Tests, scoring 36 centuries with an average of 50.87. Australia’s Steve Smith has played 116 Tests, scoring 36 centuries with an average above 56. New Zealand’s Kane Williamson has played 105 Tests, scoring 33 centuries at an average of 54.89.

As Virat exits Tests and T20Is and Smith departs from ODIs, the era of fab four begins to fade.

The India’s batting stalwart took to social media on Monday to reveal the shocking news.

"It’s been 14 years since I first wore the baggy blue in Test cricket. Honestly, I never imagined the journey this format would take me on. It’s tested me, shaped me, and taught me lessons I’ll carry for life," the post read.

"There’s something deeply personal about playing in white. The quiet grind, the long days, the small moments that no one sees but that stay with you forever.

"As I step away from this format, it’s not easy — but it feels right. I’ve given it everything I had, and it’s given me back so much more than I could’ve hoped for.

"I’m walking away with a heart full of gratitude — for the game, for the people I shared the field with, and for every single person who made me feel seen along the way.

"I’ll always look back at my Test career with a smile."

The decision comes after Rohit Sharma made a surprising announcement to call time on his career in the longest format of the game just a few days back.

Having retired from the 20-ball format after helping India win the T20 World Cup in June, the right hander would now hope to win the ODI World Cup in 2027.

Kohli retired from Tests having scored 9230 runs from his 123 Tests, with 30 Test centuries and 31 fifties and many other memorable innings across a superb career.

Four exceptional cricketers: Virat Kohli, Steve Smith, Joe Root, and Kane Williamson. Collectively known as the "Fab Four," not only proved how visionary Crowe was but also made Test cricket an entertaining watch with their contrasting batting styles, with Kohli, representing India, brought an aggressive and fearless approach to batting, Australia's Steve Smith was known for his unorthodox technique but remarkable ability to score runs under pressure. Joe Root of England combined traditional technique with modern flair, making him a consistent run-scorer in all conditions while Kane Williamson from New Zealand was celebrated for his calm demeanour and textbook style, often anchoring his team's innings.

They all have fantastic records as well with Steve Smith leading the way with an astonishing average of 56.

There has been much debate on who is the best among Williamson, Kohli, Root or Smith. Like every era, the 'who is the best among Fab Four' debate has raged on for years.

Alyssa Healy, former captain of the Australian women's team, was asked to rank the Fab Four and as surprising as it is, Healy placed Kohli last in the order.

According to Healy, the No. 1 spot in Healy's list belongs to Williamson, purely because she feels the former New Zealand captain is a one-man army, whereas Kohli has one of the best forms of support in the likes of Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul and others. Even Smith has had help around him, as has Root.

"They're all very great. But if I'm purely basing it on numbers, I'm going to put Kohli as fourth. But I actually rate him as No. 1 in everything else. But if you're basing it on numbers, Kohli is going to sit fourth for me.”Healy said on the 'LiSTNR Sport' podcast last year.

"Williamson has carried the whole New Zealand team, whereas for Virat, he is the greatest player in the world, let's be real. But with him, it's like someone else is always there. Rohit Sharma can score hundreds. KL Rahul can score a 100. Even [Ravindra] Jadeja can score a 100 at No. 8. He has always got someone else, but I feel that if Williamson doesn't make those runs, New Zealand don't get anywhere near winning," Healy said further.

The former India skipper Kohli’s batting meltdown in the last five years of his Test career meant his departure was with the lowest numbers of average, runs and centuries among the ‘Fab Four’.

But till 2019, it seemed unlikely as Kohli had an average 54.97 and was one of the few batters to average over 50 across the formats. From 2014 to 2019, Kohli scored 5695 runs at an average of 58.71 but in the last five years, that average dropped to 46.85 in victories.

Kohli left Test cricket after persistent batting failures in Australia during the Border-Gavaskar series that India lost 1-3, leading to failure to qualify for the WTC final. He failed to live up to the expectations.

Kohli’s lean patch in red-ball cricket has coincided with re-emergence of his technical woes. In 2014, Kohli had struggled to deal with the moving ball outside his off-stump, which has made a re-appearance in the last five years.

Apart from his 100 not out in the second innings of the Perth Test, Kohli could make only 67 runs at an average of 11.16 in the six other innings in Australia, repeatedly poking the ball to the slip cordon.

Root has been the most prolific among them during the last five years, scoring 5613 runs in 63 matches with 19 tons (three double tons), averaging 54.49, ahead of Williamson’s 2897 runs in 28 matches, at an average of 52.30 that includes 12 hundreds (four double hundreds).

Smith’s 2798 runs since Jan 2020 came from 41 matches at an average of 44.41 with eight centuries (one double century). A little over a decade ago, cricket writing became all about the Fab Four. We said they would all go on to captain their countries, and they did, as they kept racking up the hundreds, piling up runs, always playing against one another.

These days none is captain any more. They are all still playing though but none is the team’s best player any longer. Their reputations make it feel as though they are.

Years passed, and as some of the legends got closer to the end of their careers. But the question is who next? Babar Azam, Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, and Shubman Gill are already making their presence felt but Kohli, Smith, Williamson, and Root will be an impossible feat to replicate.


Adnan Hadi is a senior journalist
with special interest in writing on
archeological sites and sports.