Xplorich
Long before the late Martin Crowe coined the term ‘Fab Four’ in 2014 for Virat Kohli, Joe Root, Steve Smith and Kane Williamson, the quartet were already making names for themselves.But what Crowe’s nomenclature did was give cricket fans something definitive to hold on to, something that would, over the next decade and a half, turn into a never-ending debate.Who is the GOAT? Your GOAT or mine?Their careers became so intertwined with the collective identity of the term that it became impossible to discuss one without invoking the others. Mention Kohli, and Root, Smith and Williamson inevitably enter the conversation.Talk about Smith’s genius and Kohli’s intensity, Root’s volume and Williamson’s calmness are never far behind. Such was the nature of the era they collectively came to define.While Kohli’s white-ball numbers tower over the other three, it was always Test cricket where the comparisons felt the most intriguing. Perhaps because it is Test cricket, the pinnacle of the sport, where greatness is stretched over years rather than moments.Or perhaps because the numbers, the ebbs and flows, the peaks and slumps of their careers made for fascinating reading, following and, above all, debating.And each brought his own personality to this exclusive club.Kohli had the intensity. Smith had the absurdity. Root simply piled up runs with relentless volume.And Williamson, amid all the hoopla surrounding the others, quietly went about his business, bringing stability to New Zealand cricket with the same understated assurance with which he batted.What united them all, however, was greatness, or at the very least the path towards it.Now, with Williamson becoming the first member of the Fab Four to retire from international cricket, his departure naturally leaves behind an intriguing question: where does he rank among the four?But perhaps this is not the time for that debate.Not yet.Because, standalone, away from the endless comparisons and rankings, Williamson has put together a career worthy of reflection in its own right.And maybe this is also a good time to look back at what these four managed to achieve during the years when all of them were active together, an era that, for many, came to define modern Test batting itself
Four giants, separated by a whisker
The most remarkable thing about the Fab Four is how close they eventually became. After thousands of runs and over a decade of cricket, their Test averages occupy a remarkably narrow corridor.Steve Smith sits highest with 56.06. Williamson follows at 54.06. Root and Kohli trail, yet the gap between the highest and lowest is less than ten runs.
Design: Mukesh Sharma
Historically, great careers announce themselves loudly. Smith’s career is remembered for outrageous peaks. Kohli’s for dominance and drama. Root’s for longevity and volume.Williamson’s legacy is harder to package because he simply appeared every season and added another layer.After 25 Tests, he had only 1,385 runs, the fewest among the four. Smith and Root had already crossed 2,100. Kohli too had surged ahead. At that stage, Williamson looked like the fourth member of the quartet. Certainly the least spectacular.As the years passed, something curious happened. The gaps disappeared. Smith had the giant peak. Kohli had the run-glut years. Root had unmatched volume. Williamson had neither. He simply compounded.By the end, despite playing fewer Tests than Root and around a dozen fewer than Smith, he had drawn level with them on virtually every meaningful measure.
Design: Mukesh Sharma
When New Zealand won, Williamson delivered
But runs are one thing. Match-winning runs are another. Strip away every draw and defeat and focus only on victories and Williamson’s numbers become extraordinary.In Tests New Zealand won, he averaged 81.1. Smith averaged 64. Root 62. Kohli 51.
Design: Mukesh Sharma
22 of his 33 Test hundreds came in NZ wins. For context, Williamson spent his career playing for the smallest cricketing nation among the four.New Zealand never possessed India’s depth, Australia’s production line or England’s endless volume of matches. His runs carried disproportionate weight.The fourth innings tells a similar story. He also made five hundreds batting last, joint-most in Test history alongside Younis Khan. Four came in successful chases, equalling Graeme Smith’s record. His fourth-innings average of 50.8 comfortably leads the Fab Four.
Design: Mukesh Sharma
Home comforts, but no hollow numbers
However, every great batter carries accusations. For Williamson, the charge was simple. Home tracks. His home average of 65.76 dwarfs his away average of 45.41. On the surface, critics have ammunition.But, an away average above 45 is itself the mark of an elite Test batter. Moreover, New Zealand’s pitches have rarely resembled batting paradises. They offered seam movement, weather and unpredictability rather than endless runs.Even more remarkable, Williamson scored centuries against all nine Test opponents he faced. He remains the only New Zealander to do so.
Design: Mukesh Sharma
Captain leading from the front
And as was the case with all four at some stage of their careers, the added responsibility of captaincy eventually arrived.But this is where Williamson, somewhat surprisingly, seemed to extract the best out of himself in a way that Kohli, Root and Smith could not.The armband affected each of them differently. Root’s batting dipped under the burden. Kohli’s average soared during his reign, only to crash once the captaincy disappeared.Smith’s extraordinary tenure produced absurd numbers before ending abruptly.Williamson, however, experienced none of those curves. Instead, captaincy amplified him.He averaged 49 before leading New Zealand. That climbed to 57 during his years as captain. And remarkably, after stepping away from the role, it rose further to 60.
Design: Mukesh Sharma
Smith averaged an astonishing 67.7 as captain. Kohli won most often. Root struggled under the burden. Williamson’s chapter, however, carries one distinction nobody else possesses. The World Test Championship.He led New Zealand to the inaugural title in Southampton in 2021, defeating India. Among the Fab Four, he alone retires with an ICC Test crown as captain.Kohli reached two finals and lost both. Root and Smith never reached one. For a player so often described as understated, that remains the loudest line on his CV.
Design: Mukesh Sharma
Different rhythms, different careers
Smith reached 5,000 runs in just 52 Tests and 20 centuries in only 53. His peak years bordered on the absurd. Root became the accumulator. Kohli was explosion followed by slowdownWilliamson became endurance. Never the quickest. Rarely the slowest. Always present.
Design: Mukesh Sharma
He reached 9,000 runs in 103 Tests. Root needed 104. Kohli 115. Smith 96. Thirty centuries arrived in 97 Tests, comfortably ahead of Root and Kohli and not too far behind Smith’s extraordinary pace.
Defying age
Batters usually peak in their late twenties. Then, inevitably, decline follows. Williamson rejected the script. He improved with age. His early thirties produced an average of 66.7, the highest phase of his career.Compare that with Kohli. The Indian great averaged nearly 59 in his late twenties before sliding to 39 and eventually 26. Smith’s outrageous peak arrived earlier. Root proved the most age-resistant and continues to score heavily.
Design: Mukesh Sharma
Up until now, the comparisons had largely been confined within the Fab Four themselves. But another question is worth asking: how much better were these men than the batters around them?Viewed through that lens, Smith sits at the top. His average stood nearly 80 percent above the global batting baseline of his era. Williamson followed at 74 percent, with Root at 64 and Kohli at 52.The margins, once again, are remarkably narrow.But perhaps another number captures Williamson better than any average ever could. Share of team runs.Williamson accounted for 16.4 percent of all New Zealand runs scored in the Tests he played. Smith contributed 16.1 percent of Australia’s runs. Root shouldered 15.7 percent for England, while Kohli accounted for 14.6 percent of India’s.
Design: Mukesh Sharma
Williamson’s best year, 2015, produced 1,172 runs at 90.2, yet it rarely enters conversations dominated by Smith’s Ashes peaks or Kohli’s imperial phase. But Williamson was always there, scoring and always relevant.And now, fittingly, he becomes the first of the Fab Four to leave. There is no dramatic comeback, no farewell tour and no unfinished business.Simply with 9,515 runs at 54.06, 33 hundreds and the quiet satisfaction of a career completed. For years, the Fab Four debate searched endlessly for a winner.Maybe that was always the wrong question. Williamson showed that greatness did not always need drama. Sometimes it could arrive softly. And sometimes, after sixteen years, it could leave the same way.
