Martin Crowe coined the term ‘Fab 4’ on August 29, 2014. It was the former New Zealand’s way of describing the four best young Test batters in the world. According to him, these four would be the greatest red-ball batters in the coming years. Crowe left the world in 2016 but even by then, his prophecy was proven correct.
However, nearly 11 years after his claim. 1/4 of the Fab 4 retired. Virat Kohli bid Test cricket adieu last month. With nearly 10,000 runs to his name and 30 hundreds. Naturally, the cricket world celebrated Kohli, the Test player. And now one of his biggest rivals and another Fab 4 member has spoken about him.
Admired Kohli, says Root
Former England captain Joe Root says he never saw Kohli as his competition. Instead, he was often in awe of him. One can say whatever they want about Kohli but he placed nothing above Test cricket. He even said so after winning his maiden IPL trophy.
Kohli fought like his life was on the line. He was always pumped. He celebrated wickets like he was the one taking them. Root will miss this. He won’t forget their battles on the field.
“I’ve never been in competition with Virat. He is someone I’ve always admired and thought, ‘Wow, what a player’. I’ll miss those battles we had on the field, but it provides opportunities for other players to try and put their mark on Test cricket,” Root told Sony Sports Network.
Cricket poorer without Rohit-Kohli
But it wasn’t just Kohli who retired. Just days before him, India’s Test captain, Rohit Sharma, also hung up his boots. And although Root didn’t have as many skirmishes with Rohit in the Test arena, he knows that he brought to the longest format. Rohit was the highest scorer for India the last time they toured.
Root thinks cricket as a sport will be poorer without stalwarts like them. Both had retired from T20Is after the 2024 T20 World Cup and have now left Test cricket as well.
“Cricket is poorer without them being around. They are two Indian legends. They’ve done amazing things for Indian cricket for such a long period of time. It’ll be a slightly different look to the series, but we still expect it to be highly competitive,” Root added.
“Cricket poorer without Rohit Sharma & Virat Kohli” – Joe Root praises Indian greats before Test series Inside Sport India.
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