How Joe Root is edging ahead in the race to be the world's best young batsman

Joe Root acknowledges the crowd after being dismissed for 134

The past decade has seen the retirement of many of cricket’s greatest batsmen. Brian Lara, Sachin Tendulkar and Ricky Ponting, to name but three, have all departed, leaving voids that cannot be filled by mere mortals.

But now, the seeds of change that were sown 10 years ago are beginning to flower. Among the hopefuls, four players are blooming more spectacularly than the rest, and are cementing themselves as the elite of their era.

England’s Joe Root, New Zealand’s Kane Williamson, Australia’s Steven Smith and India’s Virat Kohli form this incredible quartet. Root and Williamson are 24 while Smith and Kohli are 26, but even the latter two are still relative babies in the grander picture. But their ages pale into insignificance when acknowledging their achievements.

Make no mistake; they are already stars, not starlets.

And while their efforts will undoubtedly be focussed primarily on succeeding for the sake of their teams, it’s naïve to suggest that their individual feats will not be endlessly compared, or that we won’t relentlessly scrutinize their stats to work out who the most prolific of them is.

So under the backdrop of Root’s wonderful 134 in Cardiff – which kicked off the latest Ashes series with gusto – let us begin that analysis.

Pouncing on opportunities

Root is everything one would want from a Test batsman. His temperament at the crease is superb, he possesses the full range of classical shots, and most importantly, he knows how to cash in on his opponent’s errors.

Brad Haddin dropped him on nought on Wednesday and was duly punished. In the fourth one-day international (ODI) against New Zealand last month, Ross Taylor shelled Root on nine and was made to squirm as he cruised to an unbeaten 106. The nous to capitalise so devastatingly on mistakes cannot be taught.

Smith has gone from being the butt of all jokes to Australia’s lethal baby-faced weapon. Batting in Bradman mode for the past 12 months, he makes a pressing case to be labelled the world’s best, and how he tackles this Ashes – his biggest assignment yet – will be fascinating. He is scoring with consummate ease right now, and neither India nor West Indies could successfully plot his demise.

It feels as if Williamson is something of an old hand in the Black Caps unit despite his tender age. The Kiwi has become an integral part of the team since making his international debut in 2010, and is destined to be one of his country’s greatest.

Like Smith, though, it is quite recently that Williamson has taken his game to the next level. In his last 10 Tests, he has plundered 1235 runs at 77.18 with five hundreds (including one double-century and two other knocks exceeding 150). These are eye-watering figures, and when it comes to making huge innings, Williamson arguably does it better than his rivals.

The Cardiff ton for Root marks his seventh in Tests, and with it, he nudges his average north of 55. Meanwhile, Smith has accrued nine hundreds at 56, while Williamson and Kohli both have 10 at almost identical averages a tick below 46.

So in the Test arena at least, Root and Smith are offering more in terms of consistent runs – which is undeniably important, if not a decider of supremacy. The situation also matters, and the ability to rise to it is something that is measured more anecdotally than it is statistically.

Kohli is a prime example. Thrust into the deep waters of Test captaincy for the first time, the Indian faced a “sink or swim” moment. Under the extreme examination, he swam. Two centuries in the match against Australia in Adelaide last December spoke of a man ready to thrive on the big stage.

Indeed, his fourth innings magic threatened for a long time to hoist India to an improbable 364 chase. Nonetheless, Kohli proved he had matured at the pinnacle, a much-needed boost following his dreadful tour of England the previous summer.

Virat Kohli’s ODI showings hold him in good stead

Kohli holds a narrow edge in ODIs

In the ODI landscape, Kohli remains the doyen of the chase. A staggering 14 hundreds in 86 innings batting second illustrate his match-winning prowess amply, and with 22 three-figure knocks overall in 161 games, he is unchallenged in the shorter format. At this rate, he is on track for records that possibly only Sachin Tendulkar will have bettered, and it’s not unfeasible that he could break a fair few of them.

That said, the others aren’t shabby either. Root in particular has shone, but lacked support from his teammates. During England’s torrid stretch in the 50-over game the young right-hander has often carried the side. He also looks like being the lynchpin of the new and improved outfit, with his classy aggression working wonders at number three, as demonstrated by his two centuries in the recent ODI series with New Zealand.

Paralleling his Test improvements, Smith’s ODI exploits of late have been impressive. In this year’s World Cup, the Aussie reached 50 five times out of seven and blasted a vital ton in the semi-final against India. No longer selected as a useful all-rounder, he is now a specialist batsman in the format and taking that path is paying dividends, although he has a way to go before he can be mentioned in the same 50-over conversation as Kohli.

Williamson has forged a strong argument for himself in the ODI game as well – he hits a half-century or more in over a third of his innings. An overall average of 47.41 more than mixes it with those who have reigned supreme in white ball cricket, and his display in the five-match series with England in June was just the latest show of his brilliance.

The beauty of batsmanship is that while making runs will always be the primary objective, there are multiple routes to greatness. Whether it’s sheer consistency, the penchant to score big or the knack to make hay when demanded to, there are various aspects that need to be mastered by a modern great. The best bladesman of them all is perhaps the one who has an appropriate amount of each quality.

For now, Root is edging above the others. His numbers are stunning and his penchant for the major occasion is also admirable. In both formats the 24-year-old has flourished and become the rock of his side, and the new darling of the fans.

The fact that he has not bowed under such pressure is proof that he may not just end up as one of his nation’s most decorated batsmen, but captains too.

I expect the battle between the four to see many twists and turns in the future, but currently, it’s England’s new hero who leads the pack.