'Joe Root, Kane Williamson, Steve Smith are there, but Virat Kohli..': Ex-India Opener Makes Glaring Omission From Fab-4

Fab 4 of world cricket was one of the biggest talking points at one point in time, with Joe Root, Steve Smith, Kane Williamson and Virat Kohli highlighting the elite list of cricketers in red-ball cricket. More recently, while Root and Smith have continued their red ball glory they have risen to the occasion for their respective teams in the ongoing Ashes 2023.

With some of the best batters of the ongoing era finding their place in the ‘Fab 4’, former Indian opener Aakash Chopra made a glaring omission by saying that Kohli doesn’t belong in the same club.

After the year 2020, Kohli underwent a lean patch, which saw him go nearly two and a half years without breaching the figure mark in all formats. The 34-year-old has only managed to score just a solitary century in Tests since 2020, and his average has fallen to 26.7 which shows the struggles in red-ball cricket for the talismanic batter.

Chopra thus believed that the Fab 4 no longer exists, and he insisted that it’s a Fab-3 in Test cricket now.

“Kane and Joe Root, no question about it. Steve Smith, averaging 50 with six hundreds, no question about him. But David Warner and Virat Kohli, at this point of time, they are not a part of Fab 4. There’s no Fab 4 right now, there’s Fab 3,” Chopra said on his YouTube channel.

Chopra even insisted that Pakistan captain Babar Azam might make the cut for the Fab 4 given his consistent run-scoring feat in Test cricket.

“You might think of adding Babar Azam’s name in there. But while there’s no doubt that he has scored runs in Test cricket, I don’t think he is part of Fab 4 at the moment. I’m only talking about Test matches here,” said the 45-year-old.

The veteran further added that while Virat might force his way back into the Fab 4, but David Warner’s Test career is nearing its end he felt.

“Joe Root, Kane Williamson, and Steve Smith are there, but Virat Kohli has slipped out of that list, and so has Warner. Kohli might actually come back but I’m not sure about Warner. The latter’s Test career, I think, is coming to an end,” added Chopra.