For the unversed, late New Zealand great Martin Crowe coined the term "Fab Four" of cricket in 2014 to denote a quartet of young batters, who were way ahead of their contemporaries. In the past decade, Virat Kohli (India), Steve Smith (Australia), Joe Root (England) and Kane Williamson (New Zealand) have proved him right in every sense.
Nearing their mid-thirties now, Kohli, Smith, Root and Williamson are unlikely to feature in another ICC tournament together. The four countries are also preparing for a baton change - something easier said than done.
Here is a look at four players likely to succeed the Fab Four.
Kane Williamson/ Will Young
To say New Zealand will miss the classy right-hander in their batting order will be an understatement. Williamson's World Cup dreams seemed to be over when he picked up an injury in the IPL earlier this year, but he raced against time to be fit just in time for the quadrennial event. A prince who never became the king, Williamson’s high point in ODIs was the 2019 World Cup. Notwithstanding the heartbreak in the final, in 10 matches, he scored 578 runs at an average of 82.57. He scored two centuries and two fifties, with the best score of 148.
In 12 games, Will Young has made 508 runs this year at an impressive average of 46.18. His tally is only second to Daryl Mitchell, who has made 652 runs for the Kiwis so far. Although a resourceful opener, the late bloomer came in at No 3 in eight of his first 11 ODI innings. In other words, Will Young was literally Williamson's replacement.
Will Young’s chances seemed to take a blow with Williamson’s remarkable return from injury ahead of the World Cup squad announcement. But then, he had made the most of the opening assignment alongside Devon Conway, and it helped him cement his place in the squad.
It took nearly ten years for Will Young to become an international cricketer despite doing wonders at the first-class level. Seizing the opportunity by its neck, Young has consistently impressed in all formats since his elevation. Like Williamson, he is also not going to get any younger. But Will is three years younger than Williamson, giving him a couple of years at least to serve the national team if his former skipper decides to call it a day soon.
Joe Root/ Tom Kohler-Cadmore
Is the Englishman a Test great who never really cared for white-ball cricket? Definitely not. Joe Root is England’s second-highest ODI run-scorer, behind Eoin Morgan (6,957 runs). In fact, he is England’s second-highest run-scorer in World Cup history - Graham Gooch scored 897 runs in 21 innings.
If youngster Harry Brook is to replace Jason Roy as an opener, then one can hope that Tom Kohler-Cadmore's time has come in the England setup. In fact, Somerset's Kohler-Cadmore was officially called up to replace Joe Root for the ODI games against Ireland as the latter enters World Cup prep mode. Like Will Young, Kohler-Cadmore is another batter who had to endure a seemingly endless wait despite being long talked about as an international prospect.
Since 2014, he has played 54 List A games, making 1808 runs at an average of 34.1. At a strike rate of 86.8 Tom managed 3 tons and 10 fifties, records show.
Getting censured by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) over his involvement in an offence that "brought the game into disrepute" didn't help the batter's cause either. However, if he can bring out his best, the post-Root era could give Tom a few solid years in the English top order alongside Brook, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes and others.
Steve Smith/ Marnus Labuschagne
Steve Smith has not had much ODI match practice lately. He has played only two innings in three matches, scoring 22 runs. He will be looking forward to improving and adding to these stats in India. The 2015 CWC was the highest point of Smith’s ODI career. In the eight matches he played, he scored 402 runs at an average of 67.00, with one century and four half-centuries and best score of 105.
There is no debate that Marnus Labuschagne has earned his place among Australia's regular ODI starters. He is not among the big hitters that Big Bash has helped to churn out, but is an excellent player of spin.
Australia trusting their fearless breed of all-rounders means Labuschagne is out of the World Cup squad. But here is why it is not the end of the road for him. Labuschagne is not someone who will find boundaries at ease like Cameron Green or Mitchell Marsh, but going after the bowlers is just one of the strategies that works in white-ball cricket. When it comes to holding the fort at one end while there is a Maxwell show or Stoinis storm at the other end, Labuschagne could be the go-to man. He can play the anchorman, keeping the scoreboard ticking to ensure the pressure does not get to his free-flowing partner at any point.
Gifted with a generation of tail-enders who can effectively contribute to the scoreboard as well, Australia can very well look beyond a brutish all-out attack. In case a few wickets fall early in the innings, the prospect of someone solid like Labuschagne walking in rules out the necessity for the lower-order to quickly switch to kamikaze mode. Instead, they can trust Labuschagne to rotate the strike and see out the rest of the innings, along with finding boundaries now and then. In the post-Steve Smith era, this maturity and cool-headedness could be the X-factor for the Kangaroos.
Virat Kohli/ Shubman Gill
The former Indian skipper is undoubtedly the best all-format batter of all four. This year, Kohli has been in solid form across all formats with a best score of 166* in ODIs. During the World Cup, he would be keen to improve his record in the knockout stages after poor outings in the 2015 and 2019 semifinals, in which he registered single-digit scores.
But India seem to have found his replacement in the sensational Shubman Gill. "...His hand speed - it's extremely strong. Spinners don't know where to bowl to him and if fast bowlers don't swing the ball, he can play those really well with a straight or a flick," said former India international Suresh Raina about Gill, while vouching for him to be among the star performers of the tournament.
When Kohli was 24, he had amassed 3,886 runs from 90 ODIs at an average of 51.81. The Delhi batter had already got 13 tons in his kitty then. A decade later, Shubman Gill had played 29 ODIs at 24, scoring 514 runs at an average of 63.08. He had crossed the three-digit mark four times.
And when the right-hander made headlines by scoring 638 runs in 2022, the fans christened him their next chase-master -- a role that was safe with 'King Kohli' for over a decade.
Interestingly, Gill is also becoming a fitness monster like Kohli - so much so that he outperformed the former skipper in the yo-yo test conducted during the recently concluded Asia Cup!
Kohli's workout expertise is said to be among the prime reasons for his longevity. A similar style means Gill can also remain a mainstay in the national setup for the next decade.