Adam Gilchrist and Michael Vaughan give verdict on Virat Kohli vs Joe Root debate

Joe Root has scored the most number of Test hundreds among the players who are a part of the ‘Fab Four’ category. Root has scored 34 Test centuries while Kane Williamson, Steve Smith and Virat Kohli have hit 32, 32 and 29 hundreds in the red-ball format respectively.

Image Source : GETTY IMAGESJoe Root and Virat Kohli along with Chris Broad.

Joe Root’s ongoing magnificent run in Test cricket has reignited his comparison with Virat Kohli. Root is enjoying a purple patch at the moment.

The former England captain is the leading run-getter in the ongoing edition of the ICC World Test Championship 2023-25 season. The right-hander has already aggregated 1373 runs in 15 games at an impressive average of 57.20.

The 33-year-old has also smacked five centuries and six half-centuries in the season. Root’s resurgence as a Test batter has helped him leapfrog the other members of the ‘Fab Four’ category in the red-ball format.

Not only Root has scored the most hundreds by any other player in the ‘Fab Four’ category, but he has also scored more runs than them.

Root’s recent resurgence as a Test batter has prompted many cricket pundits to compare him with the former India captain Virat Kohli. The former Australia wicketkeeper-batter Adam Gilchrist has given his verdict on the Root vs Kohli comparison in the context of Test cricket.

“In the last short while. Over a long period, Joe Root’s stats are..well he is the best England ever had,” Gilchrist said on the Club Prairie Fire podcast.

“Virat scored one of the best tons I’ve seen at the Perth stadium in the first Test match ever played there, that was probably different gravy. I’d probably say Virat,” he added.

The former England captain Michael Vaughan also shared his opinion on the debate and mentioned that Virat is better than Root in Australia but the England player is better than the Indian “anywhere else”.

“I wouldn’t argue with that in Australia. I would say Virat in Australia against the Aussies, anywhere else I’m going Joe Root,” Vaughan responded.

Notably, Root has already scored two hundreds and a fifty in the ongoing three-match Test series against Sri Lanka at home.