Who has been the best player among the four? - A statistical comparison

Virat Kohli, Kane Williamson, Joe Root and Steven Smith - they all made their Test debuts almost around the same time, between 2010-12. In fact, three of them have played exactly 72 innings to date. All four were tipped to be captaincy material the moment they took to the field - two of them are already captains of their Test sides and the other two are near-certainties for the role sooner or later. All of them are at the peak of their powers, and all in their mid-twenties, 25 to 27 years. All except one have at least one double century to their name. This is just one more incremental effort in the effort to compare and comprehend the collective greatness of the 'Fantastic Four'.

Virat Kohli, on the other hand, is head and shoulders above the competition when it comes to limited overs – he is the only one of the four to hold a 50+ average in both. Kohli's work rate is nothing short of phenomenal - he hits a century in every 6.5 ODI innings he plays as opposed to 12, 10 and 11 for Williamson, Root and Smith respectively. He scores a Test century as well in every 6.5 innings which is the same as Williamson, and higher than Root, although he is the one to not hold a double century in the quartet.

(Also Read: Bully at home; ‘Billy’ away – Is India’s Test record really that bad?)

Williamson has had a phenomenal two years - in 2014, his averages read 61.9 and 70 in Tests and ODIs, while 2015 saw him average a whopping 90.2 and 57.33. The Kane juggernaut shows no signs of stopping anytime soon.

Test comparison

Additionally, Root and Smith's runs have mostly come in the first innings – the gulf in their averages across innings is not even funny. On the other hand, Williamson seems to revel under pressure. In the 2nd Test against Sri Lanka in January 2015, after the Kiwis fell behind by 135 runs despite Williamson's top-scoring fifty in the first innings, he scored his lone double century in the second innings to take the side to 524. Sri Lanka would face the brunt of his second-innings again in December again – in a low-scoring Test, New Zealand were 2/11 in a chase of 189 before Williamson took the team home with a century knock.

Kohli's fightbacks are even more spectacular, although he has been, time and again, let down by the team. Those back-to-back centuries in the Adelaide Test in India's 2015 tour are testament enough – he was the last man standing at 141 as eight wickets tumbled in the last 73 runs and India fell short by 48 runs eventually.

ODI comparison

Away matches include matches held in neutral venues

Smith's record again seems suspect when it comes to ODI averages – his home average is more than double his away number. While Kohli, as expected has been happy in the hunting grounds of sub-continental pitches, his away average still holds close to 50. On the other hand, Williamson and Root have found themselves better in away tracks than at home. Williamson has been the most prolific in away pitches, although he has surprisingly struggled in the subcontinent. Joe Root, in fact, finds New Zealand, Sri Lanka, South Africa, West Indies, India and the UAE more to his liking than English pitches when it comes to ODIs.

Once again, when it comes to pressure situations, Virat Kohli seems to be the man you would bet your life on. Kohli hits 61 runs on average when India is chasing – that record should not even be legal. The other three, predictably, find it better to play without the pressures of chasing as do mere mortals.

Virat Kohli, without doubt, is the best limited-overs batsman with his ODI and T20 records hovering on the horizon. He also is the best batsman under pressure across formats. Only his away Test record seems to let the man down.

Williamson has been the fastest rising among the four, and if he is able to continue his incredible form for a year – all this number-crunching may as well take a break.

Joe Root, meanwhile, seems to be caught in the shadows of these men and would earn his place only if he manages to replicate his home success elsewhere and his 2014 a few times more.

Credit: All data for the piece has been generated from the ever-benevolent espncricinfo.com. All data as of February 3.