Race for best Test batsman – Kane Williamson on ton hitting spree, Kohli & Smith further challenged: There’s no stopping Kane Williamson at the moment as the New Zealand skipper on Monday smashed yet another masterful century, his 24th Test ton, in the ongoing second Test against Pakistan. Notably, it is Williamson’s consecutive ton as he hit a hundred in the first Test of the series as well and overall, it’s his third triple-digit score in three Test matches. Interestingly, Williamson’s ton hitting spree has further challenged his counterparts Virat Kohli and Steve Smith in the race for the best Test batsmen of the current generation.
It is worth noticing, as per the latest ICC rankings that were released on Thursday, Williamson dethroned Kohli and Smith as the No.1 ranked Test batsman and now he is just solidifying his position at the top and making it difficult for Kohli and Smith to catch up with him.
How it started v how it’s going 😅 pic.twitter.com/XKyEJUgUAS
— ICC (@ICC) December 31, 2020
Notably, Williamson has enjoyed phenomenal success in the last couple of months. Other than two back-to-back centuries in the ongoing Test series against Pakistan, the New Zealand skipper was outstanding in the recently concluded series against West Indies, in which Williamson hit a brilliant 251 – his highest individual score in Tests.
On the other hand, Team India skipper Virat Kohli has not scored a single century in any format in 2020 and had endured a miserable tour of New Zealand, managing just an average of nine, while Australia’s stalwart Steve Smith has not crossed double digits in all four innings of the ongoing series against India.
To put things into perspective, Williamson’s Test average in the last one year is staggering 101.50. Kohli and Smith average 19.33 and 3.33 respectively in last 12 months.
However, overall Smith is on top as he averages 61.33 – having scored 7237 runs in 75 Tests, Williamson is second with an average of 53.75- 6988 runs in 83 Tests, while Kohli is third having scored 7318 runs in 87 Tests at an average of 53.41.
But the way things are at present, it won’t take much time for Williamson to take a formidable lead against Smith and Kohli – who surely need to up the ante in the longest format of the game if they hope to remain in the race for the best Test batsmen.