Virat Kohli to Joe Root: When did the Fab 4 last play a domestic first-class match?

The Fab 4 group has ruled the cricket arena for a decade now. The group features Indian batter Virat Kohli, England's Joe Root, Australian vice-captain Steven Smith and New Zealand batter Kane Williamson.

The group has shouldered their respective nation's batting department across formats. The common format in which all Fab 4 members have achieved success is Tests.

One of the main reasons behind any batter's success in Tests is how well he plays in domestic cricket. However, at times, when a player has a hectic schedule, it becomes tough to remain available for domestic matches. In this article, we look back at the last domestic first-class appearances of all Fab 4 members.

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#1 Fab 4 member Virat Kohli's last domestic FC match - November 2012

Virat Kohli made his last domestic first-class appearance for Delhi in November 2012. It was in a Ranji Trophy match against Uttar Pradesh in Ghaziabad played from November 2 to 5.

Kohli scored a 19-ball 14 in the first innings followed by a 65-ball 43 in the second. UP beat Delhi by six wickets in that contest. Notably, Bhuvneshwar Kumar dismissed Kohli in both innings.

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#2 Joe Root's last domestic first-class appearance - May 2024

Joe Root has been active in county cricket. One of the major reasons for that is because hasn't received too many opportunities in the IPL, which allows him to be available for the domestic tournaments happening around the same time.

Root's last first-class domestic appearance came for Yorkshire in a County Championship Division Two match against Sussex. The match happened in Hove from May 17 to 19, which Sussex won by 21 runs.

The Fab 4 member scored a fantastic 88-ball 67 in the first innings but got out LBW off Danny Lamb for just 10 in the second.

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#3 Kane Williamson's last domestic first-class appearance - November 2024

Kane Williamson's career graph has gone down significantly in recent years. His lengthy injury breaks have had a direct impact on his game. The Fab 4 member stepped down as captain of the Test team in December 2022 to focus on his batting.

After missing the away series against India due to injury in mid-2024, Williamson made a one-off return to the Plunket Shield for a match between Northern Districts and Auckland.

He scored 60 and 4 for Northern Districts, helping his team win by 179 runs in the match played from November 19 to 22, 2024 in Hamilton.

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#4 Steve Smith's last domestic first-class appearance - October 2024

Steve Smith struggled for form in 2024. He tried to get back into the groove ahead of Border-Gavaskar Trophy series by playing some domestic first-class cricket in the Sheffield Shield.

The Fab 4 member from Australia turned up for New South Wales against Victoria in a domestic game from October 20 to 23 in Melbourne. Smith looked off-color as he managed only three runs in two innings. He worked hard for a 29-ball 3 in the first innings but got out for a duck in the next innings.