"Even Jadeja can score a 100 at No. 8. He has always got someone else" - Alyssa Healy ranks Virat Kohli at the bottom of Fab Four
Australian women's team captain Alyssa Healy placed Indian superstar Virat Kohli at the bottom of the Fab Four consisting of him, Kane Williamson, Joe Root, and Steve Smith. Yet, going by the numbers, Kohli is way ahead of the other three in the white-ball formats.
The former Indian captain is third all-time in ODIs with almost 14,000 runs at an average of over 58. Meanwhile, neither of Williamson, Smith, and Root have even scored 7,000 runs, and their averages, while impressive in isolation, are in the 40s, much behind Kohli's (58.18).
The story is similar in T20Is with Kohli second all-time with 4,188 runs, while the other three haven't even scored 3,000 runs.
However, Tests are the format where the other three batters average over 50 while Kohli is on 49.15.
Talking about the Fab Four on the LiSTNR Sport podcast, Healy said:
"Williamson has carried the whole New Zealand team, whereas for Virat, he is the greatest player in the world, let's be real. But with him, it's like someone else is always there. Rohit Sharma can score hundreds. KL Rahul can score a 100. Even [Ravindra] Jadeja can score a 100 at No. 8. He has always got someone else, but I feel that if Williamson doesn't make those runs, New Zealand don't get anywhere near winning. They're all very great. But if I'm purely basing it on number, I'm going to put Kohli as fourth."
She added:
"But I actually rate him as No. 1 in everything else. But if you're basing it on number, Kohli is going to sit fourth for me. I'm looking at it analytically. I think about how much cricket he plays and that's where I look at his stats. And they are remarkable based on the sheer amount of cricket he plays and the pressure he is under. But if I look at it analytically, he is going to sit fourth."
While Williamson and Smith have helped their respective sides win the World Test Championship (WTC) title, Kohli and Root haven't yet tasted success there.
However, Kohli has helped India win the 2011 ODI and 2024 T20 World Cup, and Smith did the same in the 2015 and 2023 ODI and 2021 T20 World Cups for Australia. Meanwhile, Root does not have a T20 World Cup title but helped England win the 2019 ODI World Cup.
Only Williamson has no white-ball World Cup titles yet among the Fab Four of this generation.
Virat Kohli recently helped India win their second T20 World Cup title
Virat Kohli recently helped India win the 2024 T20 World Cup in the West Indies and USA before announcing his retirement from the T20I format.
The 35-year-old scored a match-winning 57-ball 76 in the final against South Africa, earning him the 'Player of the Match' honors.
After a short break, Kohli was back in action during India's shocking 0-2 ODI series loss to Sri Lanka. The champion batter will next be seen when India take on Bangladesh in the two-Test series at home, starting September 19.