New Delhi: Virat Kohli is often called the best batsman in the world. There is certainly some truth to the assertion as the Delhi lad has been scoring loads of runs across all the formats. However, his supremacy can contested as there are other batsmen who have done better than Kohli in the last few years, particularly in Test cricket.
Kohli definitely climbed some steps on the ladder with his maiden double-century against West Indies on Friday, but he still needs to do some hard work to catch up with the likes of Steven Smith (Australia), Joe Root (England) and Kane Williamson (New Zealand).
Many would argue that AB de Villiers should also be included in this list but the South African is much senior than these four. All these four – Kohli (27), Smith (27), Root (25) and Williamson (25) – are in their mid-twenties, while de Villiers is 32 years old.
Let’s have a look at the statistics of these four batsmen.
All these four batsmen have played between 40 to 50 Test matches and Kohli has the worst average among them. In 42 Test matches (including first Test vs West Indies), Kohli has scored 3194 runs with 12 centuries at an average of 46.28.
In comparison, Smith has 3852 runs from 41 matches with 14 centuries and he averages 60.18. Even Root (44 matches, 3753 runs) and Williamson (48 matches, 4037 runs) have better career Test averages – 55.26 and 49.23 respectively – than Kohli.
Statistically, average is an important factor to gauge a player’s consistency. And Kohli certainly needs to catch up on his average in Test cricket to truly become the best batsman of this generation.