Former champion Australia batsman Michael Hussey believes India maestro Virat Kohli, the stats book aside, is the best of the 'big three'.
New Zealand run-machine Kane Williamson last week became the official best of the lot when he climbed to the International Cricket Council's top rung in men's Test batting.
And Australia gun Steve Smith - ranked third - posted the 27th century of his Test career in the ongoing SCG match against India.
Meanwhile, Kohli is enjoying a break from cricket for the birth of his first child but occupies the second ledge of the rankings.
Although stats indicate Smith has the edge over his two fiercest contemporaries, Hussey says Kohli "stands out" to him as the greatest batsman of the trio.
"They're unbelievable numbers - by all three of them," Hussey said on Fox Cricket.
"(Going by) numbers and the averages, you would say that Smith is No.1, but in my mind I've felt that just by watching, on the eye, Kohli is probably the best of those three.
"It's all very close - don't get me wrong. But he stands out to me as the best.
"But if you look at the raw numbers you would have to say Smith is the best performing out of the three."
Smith's Test average of 62.75 is considerably better than that of Williamson (54.31) and Kohli (53.41), while Australia's second drop has amassed 7449 runs.
Williamson has garnered 7115 and 24 tons, while Kohli has compiled 7318 runs and is equal with Smith on 27 hundreds.
Smith made a combined 212 runs in the New Year's Test, crafting 131 in the first innings and 81 in the second.
His SCG century was his first Test ton since Australia's 2019 Ashes tour of England, in which he incredibly plundered 774 runs at an average of 110.57, and his celebration was received as the most emotional of his 76-Test career.
"I'm reading lots of things," Smith said on Fox Cricket.
"People say that I'm out of form but I think there's a difference between out of form and out of runs.
"Just nice to score a few and maybe keep a few people quiet."
His fiery words came on the back of an extraordinarily lean start to the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series, which saw him make just 10 runs across the Adelaide and Melbourne Tests.
The New South Welshman's 27th Test century put him equal with Kohli, Graeme Smith and Allan Border.
Smith is just one ton behind Michael Clarke and Hashim Amla, and two behind the greatest batsman of all time, Sir Donald Bradman.
For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by clicking here!
from WWOS https://wwos.nine.com.au/cricket/australia-v-india-kane-williamson-virat-kohli-steve-smith-icc-test-batting-rankings-michael-hussey/f5f4aa3b-4f7e-4463-a614-11bb954cd233
0 Comments