We are certainly ready for the Asia Cup!

Are you?

See you at Dubai International Cricket Stadium.

In the past three years, from July 2019 to July 2022, Babar has been the best in the world when it comes to Test Cricket. While he has the 6th most runs in test cricket in this period, he has the highest average in this format. If Pakistan got to play as many Tests as England, India, or Australia, you know where he would be in this list.

Nevertheless, that average of 62 is right up there and unmatched at the moment, and whether there is a Fab 4 or a Fab 5 or a Fab anything, Babar is right at the top of that Fab list!

There is no doubt about Babar being the best ODI batsman in the world. He is the second highest run scorer in ODIs in this three year period, and his average of 82 shows how far above and beyond he is than the rest of the pack. No one has scored as many ODI tons as Babar has in this time, and the next best average is 27 runs away!

Is there a Fab list in ODIs or is he the only Fab ONE?

In T20Is, there is no one who has been as consistent as Babar has, barring Virat Kohli over the years and Mohammad Rizwan last year. In this 3 year period, Babar is the second highest run scorer, has the third best average, and the most number of 50s. 

He is by far the best white ball batsman at the moment. No wonder the ICC also ranks him at the top in both formats.

Whether it is number of runs, average, strike rate (that slaps a lot of faces), centuries, or fifties, Babar is at the top of every list across formats in international cricket over the past 3 years.

He is the only batsman in the world who is ranked in the top 5 for each format. He tops the list for two of those formats. 

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!

It was a record breaking spectacle at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore with two of Pakistan's best ODI batsmen at the forefront of this epic chase.

Imam played his part; the finishers had to play theirs. In the history of ODI cricket, have you ever seen an opener be there at the end in a chase of 350? Maybe you can count 2 instances out of a 1,000+ ODIs.

Imam, and Pakistan's captain Babar Azam, scripted Pakistan's win last night. These two are once in a generation type players and Pakistan needs to cherish them.

I just fail to understand how anyone can discount their match winning abilities.

Babar Azam has the highest batting average in ODIs among all batsmen in ODI wins. His average is a clear 13 runs per innings ahead of Virat Kohli's.

Imam is 6th on this list with a phenomenal average of 69.47.

Babar and Imam have contributed to wins with 11 and 6 centuries respectively; and 8 and 7 fifties respectively.

They are two of the biggest ODI match winners produced by Pakistan!

Both Babar and Imam are among the few batsmen in ODIs that average above 50 in the format. There are only 11 such batsmen, and these two Pakistanis are among this elite list.

Babar has the 4th highest average and Imam has the 7th highest average in the history of ODI cricket.

Babar is at another level altogether.

He is undoubtedly the best to ever play for Pakistan. Arguably the best ever in the world too. Among the current lot for sure; among all time players, we shall find out. He has a long way to go.

With his 15th ODI century yesterday, he got to the landmark faster than any other batsman in the world. And he reached 4,000 ODI runs faster than all other batsmen, barring Hashim Amla.

With 15 ODI centuries he now has the second most ODI centuries for Pakistan; level with Mohammad Yousuf and only behind Saeed Anwar. And he has not even played a 100 ODIs yet!

Look at that strike rate. Quite an eye opener who feel he plays too selfishly and slowly.

Imam Ul Haq is in the list too, just one behind his legendary uncle who is to blame for the unfair label given to him by critics.

Out of Babar's 15 ODI centuries, 11 have resulted in wins, placing him third on the list of Pakistani batsmen with most centuries in ODI wins.

Guess who else makes this list. Yep, Imam Ul Haq!

Selfish players?

Yesterday was Babar's only 11th ODI as captain of Pakistan, and he notched up a 4th ODI hundred as captain, which is the most by a Pakistan ODI captain ever.

Considering that this 27 year old is just in the initial part of his career. He has a long long way to go, and I am sure he will be breaking and creating a number of batting records as he goes along.

*      *      *

Babar and Imam are Pakistan's most consistent performers in ODIs. They have been for the past 5 years, which is why it shocks me no end that they keep receiving criticism from fans.

Failures of Pakistan's middle and lower orders have resulted in many a defeat for Pakistan in ODIs; yet the ones to cop the blame are the top three, who more often than not play their part perfectly.

Babar and Imam will continue to achieve new heights, and I am pretty sure their detractors will continue to find new ways to criticize them.

I really hope these critics can stay quiet now, especially after last night's victory, but I have my doubts.

Since Babar Azam became the number one ranked ODI Batsman in the world, comparison between him and Virat Kohli has flooded social media.

Not only fans, but even former cricketers have weighed in with their retorts.

The comparison between the two batting greats is natural as it was Kohli who was dethroned by Babar in the ODI rankings. Plus, Babar and Kohli are the only two batsmen in the world who are ranked in the top 10 (actually top 6) in each format, which clearly makes them the best in the world at present.

However, there is a big difference between the two.

Kohli has been playing international cricket for 13 years! While Babar has been around for only 6 years. Kohli has played 435 international matches across formats. Babar has not even played 200.

While comparison may be natural, it is not entirely fair given the different era that they started their careers in, and the different stage of their careers they are in now.

But who are we to stop this comparison.

Where Babar ranks higher than Kohli in ODIs and T20Is, Kohli ranks higher in Tests.

Kohli is the only batsman in the world who averages over 50 in each format. Babar was there once, but currently he is not.

If you compare Kohli's performance during the first third of his career, i.e. after the same number of innings as Babar has played currently in each format, you will note that Babar's numbers are superior.

In terms of runs, Kohli is ahead in Tests; however Babar has a significant lead in the limited overs formats. In terms of average, I would say that Babar is ahead given the stark difference in their ODI average.

Overall, Babar's numbers are better considering he has scored 7,915 international runs in 184 innings, compared to Kohli's 7,332.

One can't ignore the fact that when Kohli started his career with India, he was in the company of very good batsmen like Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, and Yuvraj Singh. Even presently, he has the likes of Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, Cheteshwar Pujara, and Ajinkya Rahane.

Meaning that there was a lot less pressure on Kohli; whereas Babar has had to many a time single handedly carry Pakistan's batting.

All what the above comparison shows us is that Babar has been far better than Kohli during the initial part of their careers. Kohli from hereon, improved with every season, and went on the become the absolute best batsman in the world across formats; and still is.

Babar has laid down a tremendous platform to sky rocket. He too has improved with every season and currently his batting is at a level that none of us have witnessed before.

The momentum is with him with his best years well ahead of him. If Babar can keep improving, or even continue in the same vein, he will do well to level with Kohli, if not go past him.

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.

The IPL season will be here soon and all the franchise owners, players, and fans are waiting for it with a lot of anticipation. The Indian Premier League is nothing short of a grand cricket carnival, an entertainment extravaganza, which everyone looks forward to every year.

While the fans wait to watch their favorite cricketers, the cricketers themselves look forward to playing alongside some of the greats of the game.

Betway recently spoke to Kevin Pietersen about his IPL experience, in which he has made some very interesting observations while describing the league as spectacular, gripping, and captivating.

Pietersen started his IPL stint in 2009 with the Royal Challengers Bangalore and even captained them, a team that included stalwarts like Virat Kohli, AB De Villiers, Chris Gayle, and Virender Sehwag.

In the later part of his career he moved to Delhi Daredevils, now known as the Delhi Capitals.

KP has scored 1,001 runs in 36 IPL matches at an average of 35.8 and a strike rate of 134.7 with a highest score of 103.

At one point he was the most expensive player bought at the IPL auction.

Speaking to Betway about his IPL experience, KP reminisced about the interaction with other greats, the pressure, team spirit, captaincy, and what it means to play and watch cricket in India.



He says that he always wanted to be part of the IPL because as a professional one should not be behind the pacemakers of the game, and back in 2008-2009 the pacemaker was the Indian Premier League.

"One could learn from the greats of the game. How they practiced, how they spoke, how they approached the game, how they conducted themselves in team meetings, how meticulous they were in their preparation, how they trained, how they padded up ..."

Hearing KP say this shows the admiration he has for the IPL and what it means for players around the world.

He also spoke about the pressure that the IPL brings on, just due to the fact that franchise owners have invested their millions on a player, which brings with it added responsibility.

The pressure of playing internationals is quite different from the pressure associated with the IPL according to KP. He provides quite an intriguing example and speaks about the difference between walking out to bat at Lord's and walking out to bat for your IPL franchise.

The announcer at Lord's would say "coming out to bat is England's number 4 Kevin Pietersen".

The announcer at the Wankhede or Ferozshah Kotla would say "coming out to bat is the world's most expensive buy in the IPL auction" and with it there will be banging music and fans jumping and shouting in the stands.

Pietersen's most interesting reveals were about his experience of playing with other stars like Virender Sehwag and a young Virat Kohli when he was just starting out.

About Sehwag, he loved his careless free spirit and how he used to sing while bowlers ran up to bowl and then whack them all over the park. KP calls him a superstar and says some his most fun experiences in the cricket field were with Sehwag.

He goes on to talk about how he always knew that Kohli was destined for greatness because of his sheer determination to be the best possible player he could be, because of how he approached the game, how he learnt, how he was always determined to get his team over the line.

KP talks about this incredible friendship he shares with Kohli despite him being a lot senior, while sharing a few stories about making fun of Kohli's chubbiness in his early days.

He signs off by talking about how huge cricket in general and the IPL in specific is in India.

"Nothing compares to the IPL in India. There is nothing more spectacular, gripping, and captivating. There is no better entertainment than watching cricket in a packed Indian stadium"

Hearing the crowd cheering when Dhoni walks out to bat, or watching those partnerships between Kohli and AB De Villiers, according to KP, there is nothing like it in this sport.

It sure is a full entertainment package and the way KP describes it in his talk with Betway, I can only wonder what it would be like to be a part of this extravaganza as a pure spectator.

The world's premier T20 competition, the IPL, will be starting its 13th season in a month's time.

When the 6-week extravaganza gets underway, all cricket around the world will come to a standstill and all eyes will be on the world's best players competing for the ultimate T20 crown.

Like last year, 8 teams will take part in IPL 2020, which starts on 27 March 2020 and goes on till the middle of May.

Six teams have won the previous 12 editions of the IPL with Mukesh Ambani's Mumbai Indians winning it 4 times. Chennai Super Kings, who missed out two seasons, have won the IPL three times; while Shahrukh Khan's Kolkata Knight Riders have won it twice.

The other three editions have been won by Rajasthan Royals, Deccan Chargers, and Sunrisers Hyderabad.

LEADING BATSMEN
T20 is a batsman's game and the IPL has seen some scintillating knocks over the past decade and a bit.

The first ever match played in IPL history, in 2008, witnessed a Brendan McCullum classic as he butchered the Royal Challengers Bangalore's attack amassing an unbeaten 158 that included 13 sixes and 10 fours.

That remained the highest score ever made in the IPL till Chris Gayle smashed his way to an unbeaten 175 in 2013. Gayle's knock comprised 17 sixes and 13 fours.


Chris Gayle is among the leading run scorers as well in the IPL, but it is no surprise as to who tops that list.

None other than the King himself, Virat Kohli!

Kohli is only one of two batsmen who have piled on over 5,000 runs in the IPL. The other being Suresh Raina.

There are only 8 other batsmen who have over 4,000 runs in the IPL.


There is another batting accolade that Chris Gayle has the honor of holding - the most number of sixes hit in the IPL.

Gayle is right there at the top with 326 sixes and he has a lead of over a 100 sixes over the next batsman on the list!

More than a 100 sixes than anyone else playing this T20 league!

What a legend this Chris Gayle is.


Gayle's name also makes the list when you look at batsmen who have scored the most runs in one season of IPL; however like the list of batsman with most runs in the history of the IPL, Kohli leads this list too.

He knocked a legendary 973 runs in IPL 2016!


Take a look at today match predictions and decide for yourself on who you will be placing your money on. Chris Gayle is a T20 superstar and a cricket legend. He is a key man to have in your team in T20 cricket. Any team that has Gayle in it will always be a favorite on the day.

Also take a look at this video for match predictions.


LEADING BOWLERS
It is a batsman's game no doubt but bowlers who can check the run flow are worth their weight in gold! Not many bowlers escape the onslaught of T20 batsmen, but there are a few who have been quite successful in this format.

Spinners are among the top wicket takers in the IPL, but there is one pacer who has out done all of them and that is Lasith Malinga.


Malinga has been a T20 superstar with the ball, not only for his IPL franchise for his country too. Mumbai Indians are fortunate to have him in the ranks and he has been a key component of their 4 IPL wins, the most by any team in the IPL.

I would say that the Mumbai Indians will start IPL 2020 as favorites. They are the defending champions and have won 4 of the past 7 IPL Trophies.

Pakistan have played 5 tests this season (2019-20) and in each of those tests, Babar Azam has shown the world why he is the most exciting batsman in the world at the moment.

Babar's scores in these 5 tests read: 1, 104, 97, 8, 102*, 60, 100*, 143.

Four centuries and a ninety odd in 5 tests. A century in each of the home tests played till date.

Babar Azam, the test batsman has arrived!

Currently, Babar is the only batsman in the world who ranks in the top 5 in each format. He is the only batsman in the world with a rating of 800 or more in Tests, ODIs, and T20Is.


Following his 143 in the first test against Bangladesh, Babar has pushed his Test Average above 45 for the first time in his career. His ODI and T20I averages are both above 50.

Currently, Virat Kohli is the only member of the elite club of batsmen with an average over 50 in each format.

With the way Babar's season is going, it will not be long before he joins Kohli in this elite club.

In tests played as a part of ICC's World Test Championship, which began this season, Babar is not only among the leading run scorers, he is the only batsman averaging over a 100!


His 4 centuries are right up there, level with the find of the season - Marnus Labuschagne.

In addition to scoring a Test Hundred in Australia against the world's best bowling attack, Babar has ensured that the return Test Cricket to Pakistan has coincided with his rise in the format.

Babar has made Pakistan's home cricket season, its first in over a decade, his very own!

He has scored a century in each of Pakistan's home tests and he is averaging a phenomenal 202.5 across these three test matches.


Pakistan will play one more Test at home this season and then play another three in the summer in England. The year till end with two tests in New Zealand.

Another six tests; I am going to place my bets on Babar being at the top of ICC Test Batting Rankings by then.

Babar's time is NOW!

No one has chased a 300+ total successfully in this ICC World Cup 2019, besides Bangladesh against the West Indies.

No one has ever chased a total of 330 or above in the history of World Cup cricket.

The highest chase ever in a World Cup match is 329, which was successfully done by Ireland against England in World Cup 2011.

So to expect India to chase a target of 338 was unreal.

How could you expect India to chase 338?

How could a team with the services of the best chaser in world cricket chase 338?

How could a team with the best finisher the game has ever seen chase 338?


Virat Kohli is the world's number 1 ODI batsman and Rohit Sharma is the world number 2.

You can't expect such average batsmen to challenge a total of 338.

Kohli has scored 5,066 runs, including 21 centuries, in successful run chases in ODIs. That is the second highest runs tally and highest number of centuries in successful ODI run chases in the history of the game.

Such mediocrity is the last thing you need when chasing 338.

Rohit, with 3,381 runs in successful run chases, is 8th in the same list.

Rohit knocked his 25th ODI century against England. Of all of his completed ODI centuries (where he did not remain not out), Rohit's 102 against England is his lowest ever. Including not out hundreds, his 102 is the second lowest ever.

Seriously, you thought that such average players could chase 338?

MS Dhoni is at number 15 in the same list of batsmen with most runs in successful ODI chases. Dhoni has remained unbeaten in a successful run chase 47 times, which is a record - no one has finished more games than Dhoni has in the history of ODIs.

Overall while batting second, Dhoni has remained unbeaten 50 times. 47 times in wins, 1 time in a tie, and twice in a loss.

Yesterday against England was only the second time in his entire career that Dhoni remained unbeaten but did not close the game for India.

With such poor batsmen, especially while chasing, how could you expect India to chase a record total of 338 against England?

The same England whose bowlers were thrashed for 348 runs by Pakistan earlier in the World Cup.

How can you expect India to do the same?

England's innings contained 13 sixes. Jonny Bairstow alone hit 6 of them. There was a short boundary of 57m on one side and England's batsmen took full advantage of it.

You know how many sixes the Indian batsmen hit? One.

That too in the 50th over of their chase when 44 runs were required of 6 deliveries.

How could you expect these mediocre batsmen to clear a 57m boundary?

This is international cricket boss, not the damn IPL that the Pandyas and Dhonis of the world can come out and smash it from the first ball. It takes time.

How could you have expectations of players like these?

These batsmen are no modern greats.

They are mediocre batsmen who score less than 30 runs in the first 10 overs (the lowest first power play score in this World Cup) in a chase of 338; who happily take singles and doubles when the asking rate is beyond 10.

And you thought they could chase 338?

What a joke.

Indian Premier League (IPL), a carnival of cricket, brings together cricketers from around the world to exhibit their talent for hefty moolah. The non-stop, action-packed event spanning over one-and-half months springs many a surprise - at times intense soft on other, but always exciting, energetic and entertaining.

Potential Show Stealers

Teams that can go over the line

Watching Virat Kohli bat yesterday was a delight like never before.

He has scored so many hundreds in such short time that it almost feels like an every day occurrence. No doubt each of his century is a spectacle but yesterday's innings was in my view one of his best, if not THE best.

He was out there for 49 of the 50 overs, he faced more than half of those, and he remained unbeaten.

But that is not what made it such a delight to watch. Why I found this innings to be magnificent was the fact that Kohli scored only 60 runs in boundaries, meaning that 100 of his runs were scored by running between the wickets.

Yet he had a strike rate in excess of 100.

I have never seen a batsman as consistent as Kohli. His fitness, his timing, his running between the wickets, the way he paces his innings, and his ability to hit big - it is all top class.

Soon after his innings ended, I was amazed that he had made 100 runs in singles and doubles. I felt that it was quite a rare achievement and didn't think it happened many times in ODIs, if at all.

So this morning I tried to find out which other batsmen had achieved the feat of scoring 100 runs in an ODI by running between the wickets.

Turns out, it has happened only 4 times before, and Kohli's was the 5th such instance. Only 5 times in 3,971 ODIs!


Quite remarkable.

With every innings he inches closer to Sachin's record of hundreds in ODIs and overall. With every innings he shows why he is the best in the world.

The Indian batsman will have to do a far better job of supporting Kohli than they did in the Tests if India they are to win the ODI series. The Indian captain was the leading run scorer overall during the Tests but still saw his side fail to capitalize on his brilliance at the crease by getting out cheaply and not showing the same hunger and fight Kohli had.

An ODI win in South Africa will help settle the Indians before their whirlwind year ahead picks up pace. Failure to do so will put them under an unnecessary amount of pressure and will have them with their backs to the wall going forward. Many of the batsman on the tour will be hoping to rekindle their touch with the willow and the change to the white ball may help as they are given licenses to come out and play, throwing off the shackles of fear that can arise in the test arena. 

A few days ago, on one of my many Whatsapp groups for cricket, I was involved in quite a discussion regarding Virat Kohli.

It started off with whether Kohli was worthy of the ICC Award for ODI Cricketer of the Year, and then moved to his press conference at the conclusion of the second test against South Africa.

Some felt that Kohli had lost his cool and should not behaved the way he did. While others, including me, felt that the journalist was needlessly poking him and Kohli did nothing wrong.

Amidst all the discussion, I passed a statement (in context) about Kohli being the best batsman in the world at the moment.

One friend said it was debatable, to which I replied that among the current crop, he is far ahead of the likes of Steve Smith, Joe Root, and Kane Williamson and what is debatable is whether Kohli is the best ever batsman or not.

Average Across Formats

In my mind, there is absolutely no doubt that Virat Kohli is the best batsman in the world at the moment. The one fact that I always state to support that statement is that he is the only batsman in the world who averages above 50 in every format of the game.

There is no other batsman in the world, past or present, who has managed that.


Among the current crop of leading batsmen that play all three formats, only Joe Root and AB De Villiers average above fifty in two formats.

The 'Index' shown in the above table is an average that has been determined by assigning a weight of 50% to the test average, 40% to the ODI average, and 10% to the T20 average. This Index shows that Kohli is well ahead of the rest of the world.

Undoubtedly, Steve Smith has a remarkable test average is arguably the better Test batsman; however when it comes to adapting your game across formats, Kohli is the absolute champion.

Average in Subcontinent and Outside

The biggest criticism of batsmen from the Subcontinent is that they have inflated averaged because they score in batsmen friendly conditions at home and fail when batting in foreign conditions.

Strangely enough that argument is never used for batsmen from Australia and England when they pile on the runs at home and fail miserably in the Subcontinent.

Well, the table below will highlight that Virat Kohli is just as good in the Subcontinent as he is outside of it.


If anything, the table above shows that the Australian Pair - Smith and Warner - perform exceptionally at home and in similar conditions; however their average drops significantly in the subcontinent.

The South Africans are a strange anomaly as both AB and Amla average more in the subcontinent than they do outside of it.

Williamson and Root have the least difference between their averages in the two conditions.

Centuries Across Formats

The fact that impresses me most about Virat Kohli is his ability to score international hundreds.

Whether it is an ODI or a Test, whether his team is batting first or chasing, whether the match is played in home conditions or foreign, Kohli scores an international hundred on an average every 5.7 innings!

That is remarkable considering that no other batsman with at least 40 international centuries scores a hundred as frequently as every 6th inning.


Kohli has scored 53 international centuries. In ODIs, with 32 centuries, he is behind only Sachin Tendulkar. In tests he has a long way to go; however his combined tally is right up there with the best the world has ever seen.

Only Tendulkar, Ponting, Sangakkara, Kallis, and Amla have more international centuries than Kohli does. All of them have also batted in significantly more innings than Kohli has.

Barring Tendulkar, Kohli will surpass all of them in the next 3-4 years.

He has scored test centuries against all 7 opposition that he has faced. He has not played tests against Pakistan and Zimbabwe. Out of his 21 test hundreds, 10 have been scored in India and 11 outside India.

He has scored ODI centuries against all 9 test playing nations. Out of his 32 ODI hundreds, 14 were scored in India and 18 outside India.

This is his most remarkable feat. His ability to score hundreds frequently against all opposition and in all sorts of conditions.

There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that Virat Kohli is the best batsman in the world currently and perhaps also the best ever to play cricket.