With Williamson’s retirement from T20I, only one player remains active in all three formats
New Zealand cricket legend Kane Williamson recently bid goodbye
to the T20 international format. The Kiwi player now hopes to focus more on the ODI and Test formats, with the ODI World Cup and the World Test Championship on his mind. Williamson became the third player from Martin Crowe’s Fab Four (Virat Kohli, Steve Smith, Joe Root, and Kane Williamson) to retire from at least one format.
With the Kiwi’s retirement, currently, only England’s Joe Root remains the only player who is active in all three formats.
Test
From Test, Virat Kohli retired in May of 2025 with 9,230 runs, having amassed in 123 matches at an average of 46.85 and 30 centuries. The remaining three players are active in Test cricket.
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Steve Smith has 10,477 runs in 119 matches with 36 centuries, whereas Kane Williamson has 9,276 runs in 105 matches, including 33 centuries. However, it is Joe Root who is truly dominating the format with 13,543 runs, 39 centuries, and counting.
ODI
Active in ODI, Virat Kohli has amassed 14,255 runs in 305 matches, including 51 centuries. With the ODI World Cup on his mind, he is expected to play till 2027, and therefore, we can expect him to increase his run and century tally.
(Credit- IceCric News)
Kane Williamson is also active with 7,256 runs, whereas Joe Root is merely inches above Kane with 7,330 runs. From the ODI format, Steve Smith is the only member of the Fab Four who has retired. Smith retired with 5,800 runs from 170 matches.
T20I
Moving on to T20I, two players have retired out of the Fab Four – Virat Kohli and Williamson. The Kiwi batter retired with 2,575 runs in 93 matches. In contrast, Kohli maintained an average of nearly 49, scoring 4,188 runs in 125.
(Credit- Skysports)
On the other hand, Steve Smith, despite his poor statistics of 1,094 runs at an average of 24.86, remains active in the format. Joe Root also has fewer runs, but so far, he has only played 32 T20I matches.
Kohli is out of two
Out of the Fab Four, Virat Kohli is the only player who has retired from two formats. While his decision to retire from T20Is is understandable, given that he won the trophy last year and bid goodbye on a high, pundits and fans felt he could’ve stayed in Tests for a year or two.
At present, his sole focus is on the 2027 ODI World Cup, but with limited game time leading up to the tournament, Kohli will have to bring his best every time he walks down the pitch. Not only Kohli, but the other three players will also have to offer their finest, because the 2027 World Cup will likely be the last time they go up against each other.
