Then there were three. Virat Kohli’s retirement from the red-ball format has sent shockwaves not only through the cricketing world but beyond it. His incandescent presence on the field inspired his teammates and his opponents alike. As Greg Chappell observed, he was “the most Australian non-Australian cricketer.”
But without Kohli, will Test cricket ever be the same? No other player carried the same gravitas. His mere presence on the pitch would draw thousands of spectators, even for a dead-rubber domestic fixture.
Yet retirement comes for everyone, and at 36—despite his efforts to resolve his red-ball issues ahead of the white-ball season—the timing was always uncertain. That brings us to the looming question: does this signal the beginning of the end for the Fab Four—Joe Root, Kane Williamson and Steven Smith?
Kohli may have been the most animated of the quartet and the eldest at 36; Smith is 35, while Williamson and Root are both 34.
In fact, Smith has already retired from One-Day Internationals. Although he may still be available for T20 selection, he remains outside Australia’s plans. Last year, he was promoted to open the Test innings alongside Usman Khawaja—an experiment that proved unsuccessful. In eight innings as an opener, he managed just 171 runs at an average of 28.50, with a highest score of 91* against the West Indies. By contrast, his overall Test average stands at a lofty 56.74, with more than 10,000 runs to his name.
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However after getting demoted back to his favoured position, number four, he seems to have found his mojo back. And, now, as he prepares to take the field in his second consecutive World Test Championship final, it feels as though he has already ticked every major box in his career. There’s little left to prove, and that in itself may quietly usher in thoughts of a potential farewell.
Then there is Kane Williamson, Kohli’s rival since their U19 days. He remains the only member of the Fab Four, aside from Kohli, to have consistently featured across all three formats. Although he declined New Zealand’s central contract and hinted in the last T20I that his focus is now firmly on the World Test Championship, he has not formally retired from any format.
Joe Root—once considered the weakest link—has emerged as one of the finest Test batsmen since relinquishing England’s captaincy. Currently the number one Test batter in the world, he has been in sensational form, averaging over 42 in every year since 2020. However, England continue to falter in their push for a World Test Championship final berth, repeatedly falling short in key series both at home and away against Australia and India.
Furthermore, since the 2023 World Cup he has been in and out of England’s ODI side, and his last T20I appearance was back in 2019 against Pakistan.
With all four batters now on the wrong side of thirty, it would be premature to declare the end, but we may well be in the closing stages of this golden era. And it seems likely that Kohli’s departure—having worn the baggy blue and whites of India with such pride—will prompt his contemporaries to reflect on whether they can continue to perform at the highest level day in, day out.
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