Kane Williamson opens up on Fab Four comparison with Virat Kohli, Joe Root and Steve Smith

Former New Zealand batter Kane Williamson has spoken candidly about the Fab Four label that grouped him alongside India’s Virat Kohli, England’s Joe Root and Australia’s Steve Smith during a shared era of Test cricket dominance.

Williamson described the experience of competing alongside those three players over so many years as ‘quite unique’, a phrase he returned to more than once when reflecting on what that period meant to him. Speaking on the subject, Williamson was clear that the tag itself was never something he actively thought about during his playing days.

“I never thought anything about it. You’d hear it often because it would get put in front of you, but in some ways, now that I’ve finished, it feels unique. Not because of the numbers, but because we had quite parallel careers and actually got to know each other. Everybody did it differently while representing their respective countries. I look back on it not with pride in the tag or anything like that, but because there was a moment in time when we competed against each other for so long. I played with Rooty (Joe Root) at Yorkshire, Virat and I go back to the Under-19 days, and Smudge, it’s just quite unique,” Williamson said on the Stick to Cricket Podcast.

The personal connections Williamson described added a layer of meaning to the grouping that went well beyond statistics or rankings. His history with Root at Yorkshire and his long association with Kohli stretching back to their Under-19 days gave the Fab Four label a human dimension that he clearly values in hindsight.

How well did Williamson know his Fab Four peers off the field?

While the Fab Four were often discussed as a collective unit by commentators and fans, Williamson acknowledged that his relationships with each of the three differed considerably in depth. He had shared a dressing room with Root at Yorkshire and had known Kohli since their days together in age-group cricket, which naturally made those two bonds closer than his connection with Smith.

“I mean, largely they’re all quite different. I’ve spent quite a bit of time with Virat and Rooty, and a little bit with Smudge over the years, but yeah, more so with some than others,” he said.

Those varying degrees of familiarity did not diminish Williamson’s respect for any of the four. The relationships were shaped by circumstance, shared tours and overlapping county stints rather than by any deliberate grouping.

What did Williamson admire most about Kohli, Root and Smith?

Beyond the personal connections, Williamson spoke about what he genuinely appreciated when watching his three contemporaries go about their craft for their respective nations. He was careful to frame his admiration in terms of observation rather than rivalry, emphasising that his own focus always returned to New Zealand’s needs rather than any external comparison.

“They’re all different characters, but I loved watching them and how they went about things. I admired the way they did it. Personally, I always came back to my job and the team,”Williamson said.

That outlook captures the essence of how Williamson approached the Fab Four era. He valued what each player brought to the game individually while keeping his own identity and team responsibilities at the centre of everything he did throughout his international career.