Not Virat Kohli, Dinesh Karthik picks another Fab 4 member as best Test batter of 21st century

Former Indian wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik ranked Virat Kohli among other legendary batters in an interesting exercise of picking the best Test batter among those to have debuted after 2000 (via Cricbuzz). With a Tennis Grand Slam-like format, starting with the Round of 16, Karthik picked a winner from each section.

The former Indian gloveman picked Virat Kohli over Angelo Matthews, Graeme Smith over Michael Clarke, Virender Sehwag over Alastair Cook, and Younis Khan over Hashim Amla on the left-hand side. Karthik went for Steve Smith over Kane Williamson, AB de Villiers over Cheteshwar Pujara, Joe Root over David Warner, and Kumar Sangakkara over Kevin Pietersen on the right.

In the quarterfinal, Kartik picked Kohli over Graeme Smith, Sehwag over Younis Khan, Steve Smith over AB de Villiers, and Root over Sangakkara.

Coming to the final four, the former wicketkeeper went for Kohli over Sehwag and Smith over Root. In the grand finale between Virat Kohli and Steve Smith, Karthik went for the former Aussie captain.

Meanwhile, Root and Cook are the top two in run-scoring among the 16 batters ranked, with 13,543 and 12,472 runs, respectively. Sangakkara is the only other batter on the above list that features in the top 10 all-time in run-scoring in Tests with 12,400 runs.

Dinesh Karthik's best Test batter since 2000: Steve Smith

Virat Kohli vs Steve Smith in Tests

Virat Kohli and Steve Smith have gone hard against each other as batters and captains in several high-octane Border-Gavaskar Trophies in their respective careers.

The former recently retired from the longest format after scoring 9,230 runs at an average of 46.85, including 30 centuries, in 123 outings. Meanwhile, Smith continues to dominate Test cricket with 10,477 runs at an average of 56.02, including 36 centuries, in 119 matches.

While the Australian right-hander holds a significant edge over his Indian counterpart in overall Test numbers, their records away from home are similarly one-sided. Kohli scored 4,894 runs in away Tests at an average of 41.12 with 16 centuries, while Smith has scored 5,462 runs at an average of over 53 with 18 three-figure scores.