I believe it is more media hype than anything else really.

Yes he is no longer the India Cricket Captain. But who is?

Rohit Sharma? He has barely played any cricket since being announced India's all format captain.

KL Rahul? Where has he been?

Hardik Pandya? Surely a current favorite following his team's IPL triumph.

Rishabh Pant? Yes, they handed him the captaincy too!

Shikhar Dhawan? He has found it tough to find a place in India's first XI, but he too captained on a tour.

Ajinkya Rahane? He was Kohli's deputy some time ago, but now finds himself on the bench.

Jasprit Bumrah? He's leading in the current test against England, while the above mentioned (barring Pant) are absent.

That is 8 captains including Kohli in the last 1 year! Absurd.

Ok so Kohli is no longer captain and he is no longer the #1 ranked batsman either in ODIs, nor in T20Is.

But is he really finished?

There is no doubt that Kohli's performance has gone down several levels over the past two years.

The level he was at for almost a decade across formats is a level that no other batsman has ever been at. He will likely never be at that same level again.

But he is also not over and done with the way Indian journalists will have you believe.

Look at his performance in T20 Internationals over the past two and a half years. No one from India comes even close to his level of consistency.

He is a clear 5 runs ahead in average than the next best batsman; and a good 10 runs ahead of everyone else from India!

You can take a look at all batsmen in T20 Internationals, and you will realize that only Mohammad Rizwan and Jos Buttler average more than Kohli does in the format during this period.

In ODIs, his performance has dipped a bit more. He is averaging 20 runs less than his career average during this 2.5 year period, yet he is still the third highest run scorer for India in this time.

Yes, he hasn't scored any ODI hundreds during these 2.5 years, but no other Indian batsman has also scored as many fifties as Kohli has.

The fact that he has played more ODIs than any other Indian batsmen during this period goes to show his level of fitness, dedication, and commitment, which in my view is unmatchable.

The Sharmas and Rahuls are not even close, nor will they ever be, to what Kohli has done for Indian cricket, and continues to do. 

Test cricket is where the real problem is. Kohli's form in tests has really deteriorated over the past two years. His test average during this period is below 30 and for the first time in almost a decade his career test average has dipped below 50.

But has anyone taken a look at the other Indian batsmen around him?

Barring Rohit Sharma and Rishabh Pant, no India batsman averages above 40 in tests in the past 2.5 years. 

I guess playing and touring in bubbles has taken its toll on everyone, not only Kohli.

Yes, an average of 27 is not what you expect from a world class batsman like Kohli, but don't only target him when talking about failures. Talk about the entire Indian brittle batting line up, which is being constantly saved by the likes of Pant and Jadeja.

There is also this hype about 120 odd innings across formats without scoring a 100.

What a heap of bullshit!

What 120 innings?

Leave aside the T20 format where no one scores 100s consistently (unless you are Jos Buttler), the last time Kohli scored a 100 in an ODI was 21 innings ago, and the last time he did it in tests was 32 innings ago.

Yes 52 innings / 2 years is a long time to go without scoring a century, especially when you are Virat Kohli who the world saw knock a century every other day. But Kohli is not alone.

Steve Smith hasn't scored a 100 in a while. It has been quite some time for Kane Williamson too. I don't see the media down under shredding them to pieces!

Kohli has been a champion batsman for way too long, and in white ball cricket he still is. He definitely does not deserve the criticism coming his way at the moment.

So what if Babar Azam is currently better than him in ODIs and T20Is? So what if Joe Root is now scoring like the run machine Kohli once was in Tests? So what if Kohli is no longer captaining India?

He is still one of the best in the business. Definitely the fittest batsman in world cricket. And more dedicated and committed than any other cricketer you will find in India.

Kohli may no longer be King, but he still is a Champion!

Rightly so, given their numbers.

Each one of these 4 great batsmen made their test debut between 2010 and 2012; they have played over 70 tests each, and scored more than 6,000 runs.

In the past decade, 2010-19, they were undoubtedly the best test batsmen around.

In the past 2 years however, two other batsmen have emerged who have posed a challenge to the world renowned Fab 4.

Babar Azam and Marnus Labuschagne!

Babar made his Test debut in 2016 and has played 27 tests including the current ongoing one against England.

While Labuschagne made his Test debut in 2018 and has played only 16 tests.

Both had a slow start to their test careers; but their last 12 months have been simply phenomenal!

Babar's last few test scores read: 

104 in Brisbane

97 in Adelaide

102* in Rawalpindi

60 and 100* in Karachi

143 in Rawalpindi

69 in Manchester

While Marnus has absolutely smashed it with scores of:

185 in Brisbane

162 in Adelaide

143 and 50 at Perth

63 and 19 in Melbourne

215 and 59 in Sydney

Those are quite some numbers.

There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that these two have displaced Kane Williamson and Joe Root, whose fortunes have dwindled in recent times, from the Fab 4.

Take a look at Test batsmen with the highest averages since the start of 2018.

It is quite evident who the Fab 4 are based on performance over the past 32 months.

It is also quite clear that Babar Azam is leading the pack with the highest average during this period. Only Kohli has more test centuries than Babar in this period and no one has more test 50s.

Sure both Babar and Labuschagne have a long way to go in their careers, but the way they have been batting in recent times, there is no doubt that both will go on to become greats of the game.

For now, lets just know that there is a new Fab 4 in the cricketing world.

It has been 60 hours since the World Cup final ended, and I am still reeling at the result. But I can't keep ranting about luck, whether bad or good, destiny, rules, karma, and all that ... I already had a good rant on Twitter.

Now it is time to take stock of what happened, get over it, and reflect on this ICC World Cup 2019.

Some thoughts, a lot of ramblings, in no particular order ...

The World Cup Overall
What a tournament! Congrats to the ICC on producing one of the best World Cups ever. For a long time I have maintained that my favorite World Cup was 1992. The fact that Pakistan won aside, it was the best format ever used and produced very exciting cricket with every result mattering.

2019 is right up there for me. Not a single dull moment (barring the washed out games with no reserve days). What fabulous entertainment. Every match mattered, every result mattered, every run mattered, every wicket mattered, and at the end even every boundary mattered!

The best!

The Final
England and New Zealand produced the best World Cup Final ever. Perhaps the best ODI match ever.

Kumar Dharmasena
I have no idea how he is among the top 2 umpires in the world. If his stats prove that he is, then he is surely like South Africa of the old, or India of the new, who perform all the time, but choke when it truly counts.

Pathetic performance in the semi final and final.

Chris Gayle
Sad to see such an icon of white ball cricket depart the World Cup stage without setting it on fire. The only time he performed perhaps kicked Pakistan out of the competition.

Shakib Al Hasan
Talk about rising to the occasion. He has forever been the world's number one allrounder in limited overs cricket. He has always performed for his team. But never has he shone like he did in this World Cup. Runs, wickets, he produced it all.

Player of the tournament for me.

India vs England
I have heard so many conspiracies about this one. India did not chase to screw Pakistan. India did not chase to make it easier for England to qualify for the semi finals. MS Dhoni did not chase to screw Pakistan because of his affiliation with the Indian army.

All bullshit in my opinion.

India is not as strong as everyone is making them out to be. Sure Dhoni's tactics seemed questionable but you know what? Even had he tried, India would not have been able to chase down that total! The semi final against New Zealand is proof of that. The entire World Cup is proof of that with only one successful 300+ chase.

Bangladesh
Quite a tournament they had. Their best World Cup to date, but still a long way to go before they become a consistent threat to the leading teams.

Afghanistan
Overrated, overzealous, overconfident, outspoken, underperformers.

Babar Azam
This was a coming of age tournament for him. He is only 24, mind you. He rose to the occasion and performed like Pakistan's most dependable batsman throughout the World Cup. That match winning century against the best bowling attack in the world was for me the innings of the World Cup.

No one else scored a 100 against New Zealand's attack like Babar did. Yes Bairstow did, but Ferguson did not play that match. No one else chased a total against New Zealand the way Babar did. He is a superstar.

ICC Rules
Require a major rethink.

Think about this: Never in the history of ODI cricket has a team been declared a winner after being bowled out in a run chase.

India
The new chokers of World Cricket? Two World Cup Semi Finals lost. Champions Trophy Final lost. World T20 Final lost. World T20 Semi Final lost. All this in the past 5 years.

This is probably outdoing South Africa's chokes!

Virat Kohli
The best batsman in the world, but his scores in the 3 ODI chokes mentioned above: 1, 1, 5. He seems out of depth as captain. Looks like he is just a shadow and Dhoni is doing all the captaining. I feel like he will struggle with captaining the side once Dhoni retires.

Jason Roy
My favorite batsman. I loved every bit of his batting this World Cup. I believe that he makes all the difference to this England team. Without him, they are not the same at all. He scores and England wins.

He failed against Pakistan; England lost.
He failed in the World Cup Final; England just about tied the match.
He did not play against Sri Lanka and Australia; England lost.

In all other games that England won comprehensively, Roy's scores: 54, 153, 66, 60, 85. It is quite remarkable that all of his 9 ODI centuries and 14 out of his 18 ODI fifties have resulted in wins for England.

South Africa
Forget choking, they just failed to arrive this time.

Mohammad Hafeez, MS Dhoni, Hashim Amla
Why didn't they announce their ODI retirements?

Lasith Malinga
Even with that belly he produced some manic fast bowling spells. Champion bowler.

Ben Stokes
What a performer! What a cricketer! This World Cup was a true redemption story for him. Dropped for World Cup 2015, taken apart by Carlos Brathwaite in World T20 Final 2016, failed against Pakistan in CT17 Semi Final, and now Man of the Match in the Final of ICC World Cup 2019.

Turnarounds can be magical! He also took the catch of the World Cup!

Australia
What does one say about a team that reaches the final four stage of a World Cup even with an average team. Eternal Champions.

Shaheen Afridi
Find of the tournament? No. He was found well before the tournament. He had a great start to his international career before he hit a stumbling block in matches leading up to the World Cup. He was quite off in his initial WC matches, but then turned it around like a champ.

He was super in Pakistan's last three matches and showed that he can be a true star for the greens!

Mitchell Starc
Almost 50 wickets in two World Cups. Bowlers have not reached that tally in 4 World Cups! He's superb and probably uses the yorker more effectively than any modern day fast bowler.

Also bowled the ball of the World Cup to Ben Stokes.

Martin Guptill
Must suck to be him right now. Poor guy had a terrible World Cup with the bat. And yet he was there needing to score 2 of the final ball of the World Cup to win it for New Zealand.

The best thing he did all World Cup was a throw that caught Dhoni out of his crease and propelled New Zealand to their second successive World Cup Final. And then in the Final, it was his throw that ... I don't even want to say it!

Sri Lanka
Performed way better than expected.

West Indies
Performed way worse than expected. To think some thought they may win this!

Trent Boult
He may have only heard that cricket can be such a leveler, till he experienced it. He caught a ball inches away from the boundary to help New Zealand beat West Indies - in hindsight that catch got New Zealand into the final four. In the World Cup Final, he caught the ball and stepped on the boundary - that lost NZ the World Cup.

He bowled at a phenomenal economy rate of 4.8 throughout the World Cup. But his last 2 overs of the World Cup went for 15 runs each!

Alex Carey
True find of the World Cup. Another champion cricketer produced by Australia. At the start of the World Cup I questioned why he was Australia's first choice wicket keeper. He answered that quite aptly with the bat on multiple occasions.

His stock rose so significantly that Australia promoted him to #5 in the Semi Final!

Pakistan
What does one say about them that hasn't already been said. Ricky Ponting put it best, it is Pakistan vs Pakistan. But undoubtedly, I reckon this was their best World Cup campaign this century and they were very unlucky not to qualify for the Semi Finals.

England vs Sri Lanka
Was it fixed like Rashid Latif alleged? Who knows. Maybe the ICC, the broadcasters and TV Channels, and ECB colluded to provide the World Cup with some impetus. Or maybe not, but games like this is why this format is the best for a World Cup. Made every match count after this one.

Mohammad Aamir
Another redemption story. Handful of wickets at an average of over 90 in the two years before the World Cup, and ended the World Cup as one of the leading wicket takers. Hopefully this is the start of some magical Aamir years with the ball.

Micheal Vaughan
Loved his tweets throughout the World Cup!

Jofra Archer
Another find of the World Cup. Never before has an England bowler shone like this at a World Cup. Only 24 and he is their leader. So much so that he was given the ball for the Final Super Over too. Superstar in the making.

Edgbaston, Birmingham
I have never experienced a crowd like that ever inside a stadium. I've been to cricket matches all over the world in the past 30 years; Edgbaston for Pakistan vs New Zealand was the absolute best!

Kane Williamson
What a Gentleman. What a Cricketer. What a Captain. What a Batsman. What a Human Being. And he is only 28! I wish he wins a World Cup. He made me question whether all that was luck or captaincy tactics that got New Zealand over the line every single time.

He deserved to lift the World Cup Trophy, and I hope that he lifts one in his career!

Sanjay Manjerekar
What a waste of space. If fan boys are allowed to be commentators, what about me? I hope I never have to listen to his voice ever again!

Lockie Ferguson
The world has a new express fast bowler!

Rishabh Pant
What was the fuss all about really? His List A average is 30. His ODI average is under 30. Why is he an ODI number 4? What was all the hype about?

New Zealand
I don't even know where to start. The Kiwis played with my emotions more than Pakistan did.

At first, I thought they did not deserve to be in the World Cup Semi Finals. I felt they were a below average side, had won against weaker teams, got lucky against average teams, lost to all the strong teams, and got lucky to get a free point against India.

Then, after they beat India in the Semi Final and the way they did it, I was turned. I was a fan. Kane Williamson had completely impressed me with his captaincy and calmness. Now I wanted them to win the World Cup.

And they would have had it not been for some really cruel shit. Forget about the rules and the super over and boundaries. That throw from Guptill ... sigh. How cruel can cricket be.

I was as sad for New Zealand as I have ever been for Pakistan. They did nothing wrong. Played the best cricket possible. Did not lose the Final, yet lost the World Cup. Tragic. Just Tragic!

England
If there is anything such as destiny, this is it. If there was ever a team destined for something, this is it. Congratulations to them for this World Cup win and for inspiring millions through their amazing turnaround story.

Kicked out of World Cup 2015 in the league phase, England planned to become team supreme in white ball cricket. The last 4 years was the build up, and this is their moment to cherish. They have been the world's leading ODI unit for over two years and now they have a World Cup trophy to show for it.

The players would be happy no doubt. But it is really the fans who will be cherishing this win more than anyone. Some of them have waited for 44 years to witness this day!

England finally have a World Cup trophy, but they still cannot say that they have won a World Cup Final!

My World Cup XI
Rohit Sharma, Jason Roy, Kane Williamson, Babar Azam, Shakib Al Hasan, Ben Stokes, Alex Carey, Mitchell Starc, Lockie Ferguson, Jasprit Bumrah, Shaheen Afridi

In 44 years of World Cup history, neither England nor New Zealand have won an ICC World Cup.

It is quite fitting that these two teams are there in the final given that one of them is a team built by Brendon McCullum and the other is a team inspired by Brendon McCullum.

Here's a look at both ...

ENGLAND

England have played 3 finals in 1979, 1987, and 1992. Lost all three to West Indies, Australia, and Pakistan respectively.

This is their first final in 27 years. While Pakistan fans have churned out similarity after similarity with their 1992 campaign, it is in fact England who have made this their own 1992.

The kits. The Final. The hope for a different result!



Jofra Archer was not even born the last time England played a World Cup Final.

Ben Stokes was yet to turn 1! Jonny Bairstow, Jason Roy, Joe Root, and Jos Buttler had only celebrated their 1st birthday. Mark Wood and Chris Woakes had celebrated their 2nd. Their captain, Eoin Morgan, was 5 years old.

An entire English generation has grown up without knowing what a strong ODI unit looks like.

But this World Cup was different than any other for them.

England started the World Cup as favorites; and here they are, in the final.

For the past 4 years they have set the world of white ball cricket alight. No one has batted like them, no one has attacked like them, no one has posted the kind scores they have.

For them it has been a true turnaround story after the disaster that was 2015.

A World Cup win will give their story the best ending possible.

There will be books, movies, documentaries, maybe even business school case studies on this turnaround.

For most of the tournament they have looked like the best team on show. There were hiccups on the way. A loss to Pakistan despite a wonderful chase set up by Root and Buttler, an embarrassing loss to Sri Lanka, and even one to Australia.

But like their turnaround story of the past 4 years, England turned it around in this World Cup as well.

They look like the best ODI unit on show. They are the world's number 1 ranked ODI team. They are on the brink of their first ever World Cup win!

NEW ZEALAND

New Zealand, always the underdogs, but also always the team to watch out for in tournaments like the World Cup, have been a mixed bag.

They have looked like a champion team against the likes of Sri Lanka and Afghanistan. They have looked like the worst team on show against Pakistan, Australia, and England.

They have also had lucky escapes against Bangladesh, South Africa, and West Indies.

5 straight wins and then 3 losses to the 'stronger' teams, and majority of the world felt like New Zealand did not deserve to be there in the final four.

Especially when they were the only semi finalist who had not won a single game against the other semi finalists. And also because teams like Pakistan and Bangladesh looked stronger than them.

But the semi final victory over India has made everyone sit up, notice, and take back their words.

Including me.

Like England, New Zealand too have made this their own 1992. The lucky 4th team to qualify for the semi finals, then beating the team that topped the league stage in the semi final, to play England in the Final!

But were those wins against Bangladesh, South Africa, and West Indies lucky? Or were New Zealand just better at holding their nerves and handling the pressure, like they were against India in the semi final?

Against all these teams, New Zealand got themselves into a winning position, then let the game slide away with the other team in front and about to win, and then came back to snatch victory out of no where when all seemed lost.

While England have had a 4-year turnaround, New Zealand have seen multiple turnarounds in single matches.

In my view, Kane Williamson is the best captain in the cricket world today. It is he, his tactics, his collected calmness, that has brought New Zealand this far.

It will be he who will be at the forefront if New Zealand are to cross this final hurdle.


For one set of fans -  England's or New Zealand's - a 44 year wait will end tonight!

Kane Williamson is like everyone's favorite kid. Everyone is rooting for him to lift the trophy. I will too be delighted if he does.

While for England, it will be like the cherry on top of their remarkable 4-year run. One of the best 4-year turnaround story in sports. I'll be happy for them too if they win.

It is really a win-win situation.

May the best team win. And may we witness a cracker of a game!  

Kane Williamson was appointed New Zealand’s captain in all formats of the game following the retirement of Brendon McCullum. 

McCullum ended his career following the Black Caps’ defeat to Australia in February, bringing an end to a successful 14-year tenure in the game.

The 34-year-old was named New Zealand’s captain in 2012 after Ross Taylor opted to stand down as he struggled to cope with the duties.

McCullum took to captaincy like a duck to water, although his side lost two of their opening three series under his leadership against South Africa and England.

Following their series loss in England, the Black Caps went on a seven-series unbeaten run, claiming wins over the West Indies, India and Sri Lanka. His decision-making in the field was outstanding, which on numerous occasions would produce wickets out of nowhere.

McCullum led by example with the bat, raising the level of his game by scoring six of his 12 hundreds with the captaincy, including a remarkable triple-century against India.

He made the decision to retire following his side’s defeat at the hands of Australia on home soil, although he was to sign off in style in his final match by scoring the fastest Test century in history.



He will now have to find a new hobby to display his dominance to fill the void and, as one of the stars of the sport he will have a range of options. Punditry, coaching or life away from the game are all options. But he could still get his cricket fill with console games or online games, such as Cricket Stars and other Kiwi pokies.

His shoes have been filled by one of the stars of the modern game in Williamson. The 25-year-old has the unenviable task of replacing a hugely successful player and captain.

Williamson has become one of the leading batsmen in world cricket and was named Wisden almanack's leading cricketer of the year in 2015, matching the promise he displayed on debut against India when he made a century.

Since 2010 he has scored 13 Test centuries and 19 fifties, leaving him just four hundreds behind Martin Crowe, who holds the New Zealand’s record for most centuries.

He has all the credentials in the longest form of the game to be a solid leader for his country, and has already shown a great deal of promise in limited overs cricket.

Williamson made several good decisions throughout his side’s campaign in the ICC World Twenty20, guiding the team into the semi-finals following their four-straight wins in the group stage.

His bowling changes always appear to work with great success and his use of spinners Mitchell Santner and Ish Sodhi choked their opposition leading to wickets for the impressive duo.

Their campaign ended in disappointment with their loss to England, but the Black Caps will have been pleased with how they coped for the first time without McCullum’s presence.

Williamson now has four months to hone his skills before his first Test match as captain against South Africa.

As England proved in their win over South Africa, AB de Villiers’s men have vulnerabilities and could be exposed by New Zealand’s potent attack.

However, they still have plenty of talent in their squad so it will be a good chance for Williamson to cut his teeth as he begins his leadership journey.

Soon after England secured the Ashes to seal their decade long dominance over Australia at home, they were met with some more positive news.

Joe Root was the new world number 1 ranked test batsman, overtaking AB De Villiers.

Root has been magnificent for England in both limited overs and tests since his debut about two and a half years ago. So much so, that he is now not only England's most reliable batsman but among the best in the world.

We have seen a number of great batsmen in test cricket. Each decade has provided us with some of the game's greats like Border, Gavaskar, Miandad, and Richards in the 80s; Waugh, Sachin, Lara, and Inzamam in the 90s, Ponting, Dravid, Sangakkara, and Kallis during the first decade of the new century; and also Younis Khan, De Villiers, Amla, Clarke, Cook, and KP over the past decade.

Similarly, the past 5 years has seen the rise of a new generation of batsmen.

Like Joe Root for England, there have been a few others who have emerged to become their team's most reliable batsmen in the recent few years.

There has been Virat Kohli for India, Steven Smith for Australia, Azhar Ali for Pakistan, Kane Williamson for New Zealand, and Angelo Matthews for Sri Lanka.

Each one of them has performed at an exceptional level in international cricket and has fast become the mainstay of their respective batting line up. Their success has also been recognized with all of them, barring Root, captaining their national side in at least one format (Kane Williamson as a stand in).

There is no doubt in my mind that these are the next set of batting greats that will shine for the next 7-10 years in test cricket. These are the names that will dominate batting charts going forward.

But who among them is the best out of the lot?

Like Border and Gavaskar, Sachin and Lara, Ponting and Kallis, and Sangakkara and Younis were the best during their respective decades, which two out of the current lot are the best right now?

Here's a look at some numbers.

(For the purpose of this analysis, only those batsmen who have played at least 30 tests and made their debut since July 2009 have been assessed)

Leading Averages

It is no surprise that each one of the above mentioned batsmen are among those with the current highest test averages, with Root and Smith right at the top.


Most Frequent Century Makers

Four of these batsmen have scored at least 10 test centuries already, but no one scores them more often than Virat Kohli who scores a ton after every 5 innings or so.


Biggest Match Winners

The most prominent sign of great test batsmen is how often they produce match winnings knocks. Most batsmen can score a lot of runs, but scoring meaningful runs that help win matches is what makes these batsmen great.

Warner and Azhar have been involved in most test wins among these batsmen; both of them are the leading run scorers in test wins as well; Root, Smith, and Williamson have exceptional averages in test wins; while Warner and Smith have the most centuries in test wins.


If it doesn't get better for India, Kohli would well become the Tendulkar of his generation. Lots of runs and centuries, but not enough match winning ones.

Best Away from Home

Everyone knows that it is much easier to bat at home than in foreign conditions. In this regard, Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq must be given a lot more credit than the other batsmen considering that they have not played a single test at home.

Having said that, here's how these batsmen perform in foreign locations.

Foreign locations have been determined as outside Indian subcontinent and UAE for Azhar, Asad, Kohli, Matthews; outside Australia and South Africa for Warner and Smith; outside England and New Zealand for Root, Williamson and Watling; outside West Indies for Bravo.


Only Bravo and Root average above 50 in foreign conditions; while Kohli's and Williamson's century hitting ability in foreign conditions is exceptional. Bravo's is a rare case; he averages more away from home than he does at home, and 5 of his 6 test centuries have also come away from home.

The rest of the batsmen seem to have decent records away from home, except for Warner, Azhar, and Asad - while away. they are not even half the batsmen that they are at home.

While all these batsmen are special in their own way, there are only two names that are repeatedly at the top of the pile in the tables above.

Joe Root and Steven Smith.

They have the best average among these batsmen, they score test centuries as frequently as the greats did, they are the leading performers in test match wins, and they have outstanding away records.

The other 8 batsmen have a lot of catching up to do.

Warner, Azhar, and Asad need to significantly improve their away records, while Kohli has to put in more match winning performances. Williamson is not far behind Root and Smith, however to be considered one of the greats he needs to push his average closer to that 50 mark; same goes for Bravo and Watling. As for Mathews; he has established himself as the premier Sri Lankan batsman following the retirements of Sangakkara and Jayawardene. However, to be one of the greats he needs more test centuries and improved performances outside the subcontinent.

While Root and Smith are ahead of the rest right now, all these batsmen are 30 or under, which means their best years are still ahead of them.

There is a lot more for all of them to achieve. With the kind of start they have had to their test careers, they are well placed to reach even greater heights to be considered among the best in the world to ever play the game.