Shivnarine Chanderpaul reveals his picks for the best modern-day batsmen

What's the story?

Legendary West Indies batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul has picked Steven Smith, Kane Williamson, Virat Kohli and Joe Root as the best batsmen of the modern era. Impressed by the 'Fab Four's versatility across all formats and ability to shine on different pitches, the 43-year-old lauded their prowess. When asked his view on the best of the lot, the southpaw veered away from singling out any one batsman and revealed that he has high hopes from all four of them.

In a candid chat with PakPassion, Chanderpaul asserted, "You have to look at Steve Smith, Kane Williamson, Virat Kohli and Joe Root but it's very difficult to single one of them out as the best. They all bat in different conditions and I rate them all very highly. These guys shine in all conditions against all opposition and are the stand-out batsmen of the modern era."

The background

With their unique capacity to adapt to various situations and dynamic approach to batting, the likes of Smith, Williamson, Kohli and Root are currently the benchmark according to numerous experts. All four of them are also captains of their respective countries across multiple formats.

The heart of the matter

The highly-productive batting quartet are currently dominating the ICC Player Rankings. While Smith sits atop the Test rankings for batsmen with a whopping 936 rating points, Kohli occupies the number one position in both ODIs and T20Is with 877 and 826 rating points respectively.

On the other hand, Root and Williamson are ranked second and third respectively in Tests. Even as the England star holds the fourth and eighth spot in ODIs and T20Is, the New Zealand skipper is ranked seventh and fourth in the white-ball formats.

Parallels from history

During the late 90s and early 2000s, there was an intense tussle between Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara and Ricky Ponting for the top billing among batsmen. The legendary trio enthralled spectators across the globe with their electric stroke-play and remarkable consistency.

As the 2000s generation came to a close, the batting mantle passed on to the likes of Kumar Sangakkara, Kevin Pietersen, AB de Villiers and Hashim Amla. They began to pile on the runs, commanding palpable respect wherever they went.

Author's take

Considering the batting quartet's proven track record across all three formats of the game, it is hard to argue against the Caribbean stalwart's views. His assessment is spot on in the sense that it is incredibly difficult to pick the singular best among them. The high words of praise from an extremely prolific batting icon such as Chanderpaul stands as vindication for the present-day domination of the 'Fab Four'.