Kane Williamson identifies the 'next Fab 4' of world cricket after him, Kohli, Smith, Root; two Indians get the honour

This is an interesting time in world cricket. The superstars of the last decade and a half are fading. Virat Kohli has retired from Tests and T20Is, Steve Smith from ODIs, Joe Root no longer plays T20Is, and Kane Williamson has yet to play a T20I since New Zealand's loss to PNG at last year's T20 World Cup. Basically, we are nearing the end of an era, where not too long from now, the Fabled Fab Four of world cricket will no longer exist. All are in their mid-30s, and with the next generation of cricketers set to take over, Smith, Williamson, Kohli, and Root have only a few more years left to offer. Kane Williamson, left, and Virat Kohli(AFP)

Which brings us to the question: Who after Kohli, Williamson, Root and Smith? Surely, there's got to be an answer. Has world cricket found its next Fab Four? Well, if Williamson is to be believed, yes. In fact, the former New Zealand captain identified four promising youngsters who can replace him and his compatriots in a few years' time. And surprise, surprise… two Indians make his list.

"The players that come to mind in terms of multi-format are Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Rachin Ravindra and Harry Brook," Williamson said while speaking to ESPNcricinfo, while adding a fifth member. "And also, Cameron Green. Those are all outstanding players and have shown fantastic moments in all formats. All young, and their games are just growing."

The original Fab Four

The Fab Four is a rather interesting concept. For the longest time, it was only confined to the Indian cricket team as Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, and Rahul Dravid dominated the Test scene with their prolific run-scoring. Then, a fifth member was added when Virender Sehwag – India's greatest Test opener after Sunil Gavaskar – joined the party. However, post their retirements, from early 2012, Kohli, Smith, Williamson and Root became the next Fab Four across teams, as the four most-powerful batters of their respective teams single-handedly established their legacies across 15-odd years. And this was when Australia had David Warner, India boasted Rohit Sharma, New Zealand featured Tom Latham, and England starred the likes of Jonny Bairstow and Eoin Morgan. And yet, the four that made more waves than anyone else were Kohli, Williamson, Root and Smith.

Williamson isn't the first to shortlist the future Fab Four. Earlier this year, in January, former England captains Nasser Hussain and Michael Atherton quizzed each other over the same topic, and interestingly, Jaiswal, Brook, and Rachin made it there too. Hussain's picks were Jaiswal, Brook, Australia's Travis Head and Saim Ayub of Pakistan, whereas Atherton went ahead with Sri Lanka's Kamindu Mendis and Rachin, in place of Head and Ayub.

Jaiswal has already enjoyed a fabulous start to his Test career, including a century on debut and a record-breaking 700-plus-run series against England at home. Last year, when most of the batters struggled in Australia, the young left-handed opener emerged as one of the few bright spots for India Down Under. He scored a century in the only Test India won – at Perth – and eventually finished the series with 391 runs at an average of 43.44.

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