FAB 4? Not really

Fab 4 of cricket in the modern era, Well there's not just Fab 4! The limelight has shifted not with the stature but with some incredible performances by players other than these four.

In this generation all the attention,talk and hype around these four players but there's very little to choose between the other four players who has been as important as the above four. 

Ross Taylor

Although it would seem that Kane Williamson had an awesome world cup with 578 runs in 10 innings - was the key figure in New Zealand's top order and became the man of the tournament, Taylor has actually left Williamson in the dust since the last World Cup. Taylor's average of 69.72 is more than 21 runs better than Williamson's in the same period.

He has averaged 60.50 and 91.28 across the past two calendar years. He had also averaged 81.6 across five Tests in the year after having the growth removed, even if he would go on to have a more modest 2018. From 2015-2019 he has scored  3707 runs with averages of above 50 in three of the past four years.
In 2019 alone Ross Taylor has scored almost 1300 runs in international cricket just a few notches behind Captain Kane Williamson.

David Warner

Warner is as important to Australian batting as Smith. He is that aggressive opener who sets up the foundation for the middle order for big scores. It helps a great deal for Smith coming in at no.3. Warner in the past four years scored 2668 runs with 10 hundreds. Although the numbers are not that eye catching due to the ban he was under for sandpaper incidence . But he is an impact player who contributes hugely to Australian success over the years. It was pretty evident in the CWC 2019 how vital Warner is to this Australian side, as he was the second highest scorer of the tournament with 647 runs.

Rohit Sharma

Virat Kohli is revered as the most prolific run-getter in the one-day format currently but his deputy Rohit Sharma has been matching and sometimes even bettering the Indian skipper in 50 overs cricket in the last three years. Kohli has amassed a stunning 4306 runs in ODIs since 2015 World Cup - the most by any batsman in the world in that period. With 3790 runs since the 2015 World Cup, Rohit is not far behind Kohli in terms of consistency and has been one of the best performers for the Men in Blue in the limited-overs format. Rohit Sharma at the top of the order is massive for teams success everytime Rohit scores big the team emerges victorious. Rohit Sharma is a man of Big tournaments and Big matches. Since 2013 everytime Rohit scores 50+ in a match India scores 300+ and everytime Rohit fails to score more than 50 the team ends up scoring 250 odd, a stat that pops up the eye when it comes Indian team's chances of winning. He was the highest run scorer in the World cup 2019.

Jos Buttler

Buttler has been one of the stars of this magnificent run by England in ODI cricket – arguably their best in history. Since 2015, Buttler is the only Number 6 who has scored a minimum of 250 runs, averaged above 35 and has a strike rate of above 80 in three different years (2015, 2016 and 2018). In fact, Buttler’s strike rate was above 100 in all these three years. No other Number 6 has achieved the feat even twice. He scored 2782 runs since 2015 with 8 hundreds.

 Buttler has not only scored big runs but also scored them at a breathtaking rate – his strike rate of 134 is the highest in the world in victorious matches. Quite clearly, Jos Buttler plays a pivotal role in the middle order for England and their success in the past couple of years.

So clearly only four players are being shoved down on this generation as the modern greats but some equally important players are the modern greats as well and they have proved this consistently.