Kohli vs Root

[TheJediBrah]

Premature thread this. If both were to retire now, Root would be ahead pretty clearly. However, impossible to rule out a Root decline going ahead which might take his average around 47-48, though not to the same diabolical extent as Kohli has over the last 2 years.

So lets wait until both careers finish.

It would take a minor miracle for it to switch back at this stage. Kohli would need another insane peak and Root would have to fall off a cliff.

Not impossible but highly unlikely

 

[BazBall21]

It would take a minor miracle for it to switch back at this stage. Kohli would need another insane peak and Root would have to fall off a cliff.

Not impossible but highly unlikely

Root has never had a slump of Kohli's 2020-2022 proportions which works in Root's favour but Kohli has more overseas hundreds against quality attacks with a similar overall average so not sure the turnaround would actually have to be that drastic. Root has been more consistent though.

 

[Calm_profit]

Root has never had a slump of Kohli's 2020-2022 proportions which works in Root's favour but Kohli has more overseas hundreds against quality attacks with a similar overall average so not sure the turnaround would actually have to be that drastic. Root has been more consistent though.

Similar to Michael Clarke's career,hope Virat does well in future.

 

[BazBall21]

Most of the Fab 4 are overrated outside of this forum. I think Shane Watson recently said that Kohli was the best test batsman in the world.

They all probably are somewhat except Smith who is difficult to overrate

 

[Shady Slim]

Premature thread this. If both were to retire now, Root would be ahead pretty clearly. However, impossible to rule out a Root decline going ahead which might take his average around 47-48, though not to the same diabolical extent as Kohli has over the last 2 years.

So lets wait until both careers finish.

i voted for kohli but i think this is silly (root obviously the better bat on current forum but that's not what the op asked)

like root could average seven with the bat for the next two years and it wouldn't change my opinion of him one iota, he's done enough at a high enough level that the only thing missing from his batting record is runs here

 

[Red_Ink_Squid]

Kohli better vs pace and bounce, Root better vs lateral movement and probably even vs spin. Kohli historically better at making big scores and dominating high scoring games, Root more likely to score a valuable 50+ in a low scoring game. Kohli was a very good Test captain for a while, Root ...tried I guess.

I like Root a lot more so voted for him. (If in doubt on a CW poll...)

 

[Gob]

Only thing Kohli has over Root is runs in Estraya

 

[Gob]

Also the poll. Who'd a thought this 2 years ago

Kohli vs Williamson would be interesting

 

[Shady Slim]

Only thing Kohli has over Root is runs in Estraya

yep!

 

[Gob]

yep!

Joe's nuts always seems to get in the way in Aust

 

[Fuller Pilch]

Up to 2 or 3 years ago it was clearly Kohli, 12 months ago I'd say even, now Root has edged ahead.
Kohli (169 innings from 100 tests) beat Root to 8,000 runs (178 innings/98 tests), but then Root went nuts and reached 10,000 in 218 innings (118 tests). It will be interesting to see when (if) Kohli joins the 10K club.

The difference since 01 Jan 2020 is stark.

Root - 34 tests (63 innings), 3122 runs @ 54.77
Kohli - 18 tests (32 innings), 872 runs @ 27.25

 

[h_hurricane]

i voted for kohli but i think this is silly (root obviously the better bat on current forum but that's not what the op asked)

like root could average seven with the bat for the next two years and it wouldn't change my opinion of him one iota, he's done enough at a high enough level that the only thing missing from his batting record is runs here

I was talking about overall careers only, not just current form.

Lets assume Kohli retires today with 8K runs at 49.5. And Root has a reasonable decline (averaging 35 for next 2-3 years). He would be somewhere around 12K runs @ 47.5.
It will be debatable at that stage who would have had the better career.

Not saying the above will happen for sure though.

 

[Coronis]

I always hated Kohli and Root but tbh I miss having all four playing well.

 

[Daemon]

Kohli vs Williamson would be interesting

Williamson vs Sehwag would be more apt.

 

[TheJediBrah]

Williamson vs Sehwag would be more apt.

A few more good years and Williamson could be David Warner level

 

[trundler]

Who says he's better than Yousuf? Identical records at this point in time except Yousuf played much more away.

 

[Uppercut]

I do instinctively think of Root as slightly better. He's had a rough job, very difficult home batting conditions and no competent openers for most of his career. Also he's generally been better in series they've both played in, which leaves an impression.

I didn't watch a huge amount of Kohli at his best though, there's probably a lot about his game that I don't appreciate.

 

[Teja.]

At this point, Root is slightly ahead career wise and will almost certainly finish his career a decent bit ahead.

Kohli had an incredible peak but Root was still a more than decent test class batsman when he is out of form for extended stretches wheras Kohli has completely fallen apart for the last 3 years.

Kohli at his peak was amazing though. Everyone remembers his 6 double centuries in 15 (?) games at home in 2016/17 but his absolute best work as a batsman were his away performances in 2018 in very low scoring games with some of the most consistently brutal batting conditions I've seen.

The 2018 away tours to England and SA where he was batting on a different planet to everyone else:

 

[BazBall21]

Who says he's better than Yousuf? Identical records at this point in time except Yousuf played much more away.

That’s a good comparison.

 

[Red_Ink_Squid]

At this point, Root is slightly ahead career wise and will almost certainly finish his career a decent bit ahead.

Kohli had an incredible peak but Root was still a more than decent test class batsman when he is out of form for extended stretches wheras Kohli has completely fallen apart for the last 3 years.

Kohli at his peak was amazing though. Everyone remembers his 6 double centuries in 15 (?) games at home in 2016/17 but his absolute best work as a batsman were his away performances in 2018 in very low scoring games with some of the most consistently brutal batting conditions I've seen.

The 2018 away tours to England and SA where he was batting on a different planet to everyone else:

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Woakes