Former Australia all-rounder Shane Watson has picked Virat Kohli as the best batter among the ‘big five’ in Test cricket, preferring to not read much into the Indian maestro’s failure to score a hundred since November 2019.
As per Watson’s list, the former India captain has pipped the likes of Steve Smith, Kane Williamson, Joe Root and Babar Azam.
“In Test match cricket, I am always going to say Virat Kohli,” Watson said when asked by Isa Guha who he thought is the best Test batter in the world, in his latest episode of the ICC Review.
“It’s nearly superhuman, what he is able to do because he has such high intensity every time he goes out to play,” Watson added.
While Kohli has slipped to 10th on the ICC rankings, the Indian great continues to hold a remarkable Test batting record. He has scored 27 Test centuries and 28 half-centuries and currently has a Test batting average of just under 50.
The world’s current No.1 Test batter Marnus Labuschagne, who has played 26 Test matches and averages 54.31, would have increased the ‘big ‘five’ to a ‘big six’, but was left out of the debate for this topic due to a 40-Test minimum criteria, the ICC said in a report on its official website.
