6 great contemporary batsmen – Who is the best of them all?

Can we define greatness with the bat? Leave alone defining, can we even comprehend greatness with the bat? Is it in the sublime versatility of AB de Villiers? Is it in the transcendental chasing ability of Virat Kohli? Is it in Steven Smith’s resolute swagger or in Kane Williamson’s almost monk-like demeanour?

This is a blessed generation that is inundated with talent of the highest levels. But six players have separated themselves from the pack, showing the worth they offer to their teams. Two of them are in their 30s – AB de Villiers and Hashim Amla – South Africa’s batting stalwarts. They face stiff competition from four future greats – Virat Kohli, Steve Smith, Joe Root and Kane Williamson. A cursory glimpse at their numbers reveals a few details:

Each of them is almost sublime in one area of cricket – Tests or ODIs, batting first or chasing. Most of them with the exception of AB de Villiers haven’t realised their full potential in the longer and shorter formats of the game.

Kohli, Root, Williamson and Smith are neck-to-neck when it comes to the mantel for the Best Batsman of the next generation once AB de Villiers concedes the space. Interestingly, for all of AB de Villiers’ pyrotechnics and sublime skills, he isn’t really the best in terms of sheer overall career numbers, whether it is Test cricket or ODIs.

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Tests – Smith dominates the tables

	Tests	Runs	Home Avg.	Away Avg.	100s/50s
Virat Kohli	41	2994	46.04	43	11/12
Joe Root	42	3493	56.45	46.54	9/20
Kane Williamson	48	4037	57.51	43.91	13/19
Steve Smith	41	3852	67.3	60.93	14/16
Hashim Amla	92	7358	50.4	50.56	25/29
AB de Villiers	106	8074	46.55	50.68	21/39

In Tests, the tussle for the title of the Best Contemporary Batsmen is an extremely tight one. If averages were the criteria, it would undoubtedly be Steven Smith, the Australian captain whose phenomenal numbers are an anomaly considering his unorthodox batting style.

Kohli hasn’t really bloomed yet fully in the Test format but Root has had a scintillating time in whites, inspiring England to an Ashes series win with a series-defining knock under pressure. Those earn more points of course, and legends are built on the basis of such knocks.

While Root’s home average is impressive, it dips away from home and that is where Smith does well again. His average away dips, but only from 67 to 60 which is still an impressive average in Tests.

AB de Villiers is the only player with a better away average than home average, while in case of Amla, it is more or less the same, home and away. If you have one spot and one of these six to pick, it would still be AB de Villiers, given his ability to play 360 degrees against any type of attack on any surface (Smith is yet to prove himself on turning tracks in the sub-continent), in the long run.

Smith isn’t too far from the mantel of the best Test batsman, with stiff competition from Root, if he can improve upon his average which is a flaw that also afflicts Williamson, for whom, the away average is approximately 13 points behind the home average.

Root might also need to work on his conversion rate, considering he has fewer centuries compared even to Kohli, who has scored far fewer runs than him in almost a similar number of Tests played.

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Last 3 Years in Tests – Williamson emerges as leader of the pack

There is a surprising winner when we look at stats from the last 3 years in Tests. It is neither Steven Smith nor AB de Villiers who looks the most impressive but New Zealand’s talismanic batsman, Kane Williamson. He is just 800 runs short of Smith, having played 11 Tests fewer.

Only Smith has more centuries than Williamson during this period. Having said that Alastair Cook is missing from this list, given he wasn’t considered for the title of the Best Batsman, his ODI record playing spoilsport.

Last 3 Years	Tests	Runs	Average	100s/50s
Virat Kohli	23	1819	45.47	7/6
Joe Root	36	3069	54.8	8/18
Kane Williamson	23	2652	69.78	10/11
Steve Smith	34	3432	67.29	14/13
Hashim Amla	22	1573	49.15	6/2
AB de Villiers	21	1710	50.29	5/7

ODIs – Kohli Edges out AB de Villiers and Amla

In ODIs, Virat Kohli is the clear leader, a man who is probably in the running for the greatest ODI batsmen ever, if he continues in this rampaging form. Kohli is a run-machine of the highest order in the shorter formats of the game, bettering even Sachin Tendulkar’s numbers when it comes to high-pressure chases.

	ODIs	Runs	Avg. Batting 1st	Avg. Batting 2nd	100s/50s
Virat Kohli	171	7212	41.23	61.22	25/36
Joe Root	70	2574	48.87	36.96	8/12
Kane Williamson	93	3666	48.8	44.25	7/25
Steve Smith	78	2300	39.45	43.08	5/12
Hashim Amla	136	6445	58.32	42.58	23/30
AB de Villiers	206	8742	51.46	56.66	24/48

Kohli outgunned AB de Villiers to quite a few landmarks including the fastest to 7000 runs in 161 innings. However, Hashim Amla is hot on his heels bettering all his marks so far till 6000 runs and on track to eclipse the 7000 run mark as well. While AB de Villiers does hold the record for the fastest century and 150 in ODI cricket, Kohli, like Smith boasts of a World Cup in his trophy cabinet.

Given the age gap, there is no doubt as to who will end up with more runs.

In contemporary cricket though, it is hard to take a pick between Kohli, AB de Villiers and Amla, all of whom average over 50 in ODIs. However, AB de Villiers’ strike rate is 99.87, almost 10 points ahead of Amla and Kohli.

Kohli though makes up for that with big match innings, having already scored 25 centuries, 1 more than AB de Villiers, who has played 35 more ODIs. Amla’s late start has cost him a little bit in this race, but he is just 2 centuries behind Kohli having played 34 games fewer, an indicator of how good he really has been.

Interestingly, of the six batsmen, Kohli’s average batting first is only better than that of Steven Smith. His second innings average though is a good 5 points better than that of the second best, AB de Villiers. Once again, AB de Villiers, might win the race based on his strike-rate and versatility, but in the long run, it is Kohli, who’ll eventually take the mantel of the best ODI batsman.

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Last 3 Years in ODIs – AB de Villiers shows his class

The last three years have been probably the best in AB de Villiers’ career as his strike-rate spikes to an unbelievable 115. Doing that in itself is miraculous. But, the great man also manages an average of 62.5 which makes his record phenomenal.

Kohli and Williamson have been good during the same time, but they are some distance away from AB de Villiers. Exactly how long this purple patch will last for AB de Villiers is anyone’s guess. But while it lasts, it is difficult to look beyond him for the title of Best ODI Batsman.

Last 3 Years	ODIs	Runs	Average	Strike-rate	100s/50s
Virat Kohli	68	2982	54.21	95.69	12/13
Joe Root	54	1984	42.21	83.89	8/8
Kane Williamson	48	2399	55.79	87.74	4/19
Steve Smith	45	1920	50.52	88.27	5/12
Hashim Amla	64	2865	48.55	86.63	12/10
AB de Villiers	63	3062	62.48	114.89	10/15

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T20s in the last 3 years – Kohli Ahead by Head and Shoulders

In the last 3 years, Kohli has been the indomitable force in T20 cricket, playing a clean, beautiful game, with a Bradmanesque average of 90.25 at a breath-taking strike-rate. Kohli’s average is more than twice that of his nearest competitor Kane Williamson, showing that he is in a class of his own.

	T20s	Runs	Average	Strike-rate	100s/50s
Virat Kohli	23	1083	90.25	137.78	0/12
Joe Root	18	594	39.6	138.78	0/4
Kane Williamson	22	761	40.05	125.99	0/5
Steve Smith	10	266	29.95	133	0/2
Hashim Amla	22	739	38.89	133.39	0/5
AB de Villiers	26	550	25	149.86	0/4

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Conclusion

Root, along with Williamson, has excellent record on the upsurge in all formats of the game

It is a tough call at this moment – picking the best batsman across forms and formats and various surfaces. David Warner is pushing fast and hard and in the next couple of years, the world order might really change. But, right now, even as AB de Villiers and Hashim Amla probably enter the last phases of their careers, Kohli, Root, Smith and Williamson are set to slug it out for the spot of the Best Batsmen in the World.

While Smith has it covered in the Tests, Kohli holds the edge in ODIs and T20s. But overall, it is still AB de Villiers who rules the roost across formats. Warner to some extent, but more predominantly, Root and Williamson have excellent records on the upsurge in all formats of the game.

This is what was probably referred to in mythology as the Clash of the Titans!