The modern era of cricket has been mainly dominated by four star batters – Virat Kohli, Joe Root, Steve Smith and Kane Williamson. The four batters, also called ‘The Fab Four’, have cemented their legacy with sensational performances but debates still continue over who is the best among them. Experts and fans remain split over who can be considered to be the best among the ‘Top Four’ and legendary Australian women’s cricket team star Alyssa Healy weighed in on the topic. In a recent interaction, Healy placed Virat at the bottom of the ‘Fab Four’ but said that her decision came from an ‘analytical’ approach.

“They’re all very great. But if I’m purely basing it on number, I’m going to put Kohli as fourth. But I actually rate him as No. 1 in everything else. But if you’re basing it on number, Kohli is going to sit fourth for me. I’m looking at it analytically. I think about how much cricket he plays and that’s where I look at his stats. And they are remarkable based on the sheer amount of cricket he plays and the pressure he is under. But if I look at it analytically, he is going to sit fourth,” Healy said on the ‘LiSTNR Sport’ podcast.

Healy, who has won the T20 World Cup six times and ODI World Cup twice in her illustrious career, placed Joe Root in third place, Steve Smith in second and New Zealand’s Kane Williamson claimed the top spot in her list.

She explained that while other batters had ample support from other teammates, Williamson has been dominant on his own and plays a huge role in his team’s future.

“Williamson has carried the whole New Zealand team, whereas for Virat, he is the greatest player in the world, let’s be real. But with him, it’s like someone else is always there. Rohit Sharma can score hundreds. KL Rahul can score a 100. Even [Ravindra] Jadeja can score a 100 at No. 8. He has always got someone else, but I feel that if Williamson doesn’t make those runs, New Zealand don’t get anywhere near winning,” she explained.

Experienced batter Steven Smith has said that Australia “need to” end India’s dominance in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy by reclaiming the title. For the current generation of Australian stars, a Test series win over India remains an elusive dream. Australia Test captain Pat Cummins, along with others, are still hunting to lift the Border-Gavaskar Trophy despite claiming the World Test Championship (WTC) title in the one-off match at The Oval last year. Australia have not held the Border-Gavaskar title since the 2014-15 series 2-0 triumph. Since then, the Baggy Greens have suffered consecutive defeats in series against India on home soil.

In the 2020-21 series, India famously scripted a comeback after being bowled out for 36 in Adelaide to secure the series. A remarkable victory at Melbourne Cricket Ground and a historic win at Gabba, followed by a gritty draw in Sydney, saw India take away the title.

“We are probably the two best teams at the moment in Test cricket. We played the World Test Championship final last year and beat them there. They’ve been great out here the last couple of times they’ve played really good cricket. Hopefully, we can turn the tables. It’s been ten years since we last won the Border Gavaskar trophy, so we need to do that this year,” Smith said, according to ESPNcricinfo.

Apart from Smith, his compatriot Nathan Lyon shared similar views about Australia’s intentions for the upcoming Test series against India.

“It’s been ten years of unfinished business, it’s been a long time, and I know we’re extremely hungry to turn things around, especially here at home,” Lyon was quoted by ESPNcricinfo last week.

“Don’t get me wrong, India is an absolute superstar side and extremely challenging, but I’m extremely hungry to turn things around and make sure we get that trophy back,” he added.

The five-match Test series will begin in November 2022 at the Perth Stadium. The fifth and final match of the series will start on January 3 in Sydney.

India cricketer Shardul Thakur has revealed many details about India’s victorious tour to Australia in 2020-21, stating that the team had not received good facilities from Cricket Australia. Terming the treatment towards them as “horrible”, Thakur stated that then-India captain Ajinkya Rahane and coach Ravi Shastri were regularly involved in arguments with Cricket Australia, as the team did not receive adequate facilities. Thakur revealed that several negative things were spoken about India, whilst going as far as calling then-Australia Test captain Tim Paine a liar.

In a public appearance, Shardul Thakur revealed his true feelings about the tour when asked what India’s famous win at The Gabba in Brisbane meant to him. India had won the four-match Test series 2-1.

“The way they treated us was very horrible,” said Thakur. “For four or five days, there would be no housekeeping service in the hotel. If you wanted to change the bedsheets, you would have to walk up five floors when you’re tired,” he continued.

Thakur revealed that the Governor of Queensland had said that Australia were not happy hosting India. Thakur then proceeded to rubbish an interview given by Tim Paine.

“I heard some interview from Tim Paine. That man was absolutely lying, he was just saving himself by making up things in the media,” said Thakur. “But I know the truth – Virat (Kohli) had left – and Ajinkya Rahane and Ravi Shastri were regularly fighting with Cricket Australia to give us what we wanted,” he added.

Shardul Thakur talking about the previous Australian tour. pic.twitter.com/VbosPREELU

— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) August 6, 2024

Thakur said that the reaction of the Indian players after winning the match was different to what it would usually be. India had won the tour despite Virat Kohli missing the last three Tests and several injury concerns. In the last Test in Brisbane, India had chased down a mammoth target of 329.

“For the first time ever, we did not even look at the Australians after winning. We wanted to tell them ‘Go and sit back in your dressing rooms’,” Thakur said.