Former England captains pick the next Fab 4 ft. Yashasvi Jaiswal

Former England captains Nasser Hussain and Michael Atherton made their picks for the next 'Fab Four' in cricket. Fab Four was a term coined by the late Martin Crowe in 2013 to hail star batters - Virat Kohli, Steve Smith, Joe Root, and Kane Williamson as the four dominant cricketers with the willow for years to come.

Similarly, Hussain and Atherton made their choices for the next few years and picked India's Yashasvi Jaiswal and England's Harry Brook as obvious choices. The duo parted ways in their other two picks with Hussain going for Pakistan's Saim Ayub and Travis Head and Atherton going for Sri Lanka's Kamindu Mendis and New Zealand's Rachin Ravindra.

Hussain explained his surprising choice of Ayub by saying [Via Wisden]:

"Saim Ayub’s just had this injury and it’s not sure whether he’ll be fit for the Champions Trophy, but he could be a dynamic player at the top of the order for Pakistan across all formats."

Nasser Hussain's Fab Four of Next Generation:

Yashasvi Jaiswal, Harry Brook, Travis Head, Saim Ayub

Michael Atherton's Fab Four of Next Generation:

Yashasvi Jaiswal, Harry Brook, Kamindu Mendis, Rachin Ravindra

How did the players mentioned above perform in 2024?

Kamindu Mendis reached Bradman-esque levels in Test cricket in 2024 [Credit: Getty]

The six players mentioned by Hussain and Atherton each enjoyed incredible success across formats in 2024.

Jaiswal led the six-man group in terms of run-scoring across formats with 1,771 runs at an average of 52.08, including 3 centuries and 11 half-centuries. Brook was second with 1,575 runs at an average of 58.33, amassing five centuries and six half-centuries in the process.

Kamindu Mendis was next with 1,458 runs at an average of 47.03, smashing five centuries and as many half-centuries. Head and Ayub followed with 1,399 and 1,254 runs, respectively, while combining for seven centuries and 10 half-centuries.

Finally, Ravindra, who helped New Zealand pull off the impossible with a Test series win in India late in 2024, finished the year with 1,079 runs.

While Jaiswal, Brook, Mendis, and Ravindra finished in the top ten of run-scoring in Tests in 2024, Ayub was the eighth leading run-scorer in ODIs.