New Zealand all-rounder James Neesham talks about the 'Fab Four', his future in international cricket and the best players in T10 and T20 leagues in an exclusive interview.

It was former New Zealand captain – Martin Crowe – who coined the term 'Fab Four' to describe four of the best batsmen of the current generation – Virat Kohli, Kane Williamson, Steve Smith and Joe Root. Although former India captain Kohli has now announced his T20I retirement after winning the T20 World Cup 2024, there is no doubt that these four players are still the four best batsmen in all three formats of the game.

When it comes to Test cricket, Indian legend Sachin Tendulkar is at the pinnacle of the game with 15,921 runs and 51 Test centuries. From the 'Fab Four', former England captain Joe Root has moved ahead in the longest format of the game and now has 12,402 runs with 34 centuries, followed by Australia's Steve Smith with 9,685 runs and 32 centuries. Williamson is just 10 runs ahead of Kohli, although the Indian batsman is yet to bat in the ongoing Kanpur Test against Bangladesh (8,881 vs 8,871).

Exclusive conversation with New Zealand all-rounder James Neesham India.com website and gave their opinion on the 'Joe Root vs Virat Kohli' debate – choosing an Englishman over an Indian batsman in Tendulkar's race for records. The former Mumbai Indians all-rounder talks about the rise of the T10 league, his future in ODI cricket and much more.

Here are excerpts from an exclusive interview…

You have played T20 and T10 cricket in many leagues around the world. How does the Zim Afro T10 League compare to other competitions?

JN: Yeah, well, it's clearly a high-scoring tournament. It has featured good wickets and some top quality players. So, yeah, it's really fun. We have had success as a team that has helped.

Your most viral tweet is about not resuming sports in 2019. Do you still feel the same after five years?

JN: Yes, it was a joke. I don't really think about it at all.

How is the mindset of a batsman different in a T20 match compared to a T10 match?

JN: I think, even though T20 is a shorter format of the game, you still have time to get yourself out of trouble and maybe go from 10 to 10 before trying to launch. But I think T-10, runs off 10 balls can be a 'match-losing' innings. So you have to try to be more active from the beginning. It probably suits my game a bit, more aggressively. I think sometimes it's more about avoiding playing a 'match-losing' innings than trying to play a 'match-winning' innings because every team has so much strength in their line-up.

For me, it's just trying to go quick, try to hit boundaries in the first two or three balls and then go from there.

New Zealand all-rounder James Neesham in Zim Afro T10 League 2024.

So what do you think about the T10 and its future?

JN: Look, I think individual competitions probably need context. I think if you look at the 'Rugby World 7' series, I think it's a very competitive sporting event. I'd like to see it become an annual tournament, maybe in December in Abu Dhabi or Dubai, and all the tournaments leading up to that end in a world champion, I guess, a world T10 champion. So naturally everyone will be interested.

This will give context to each tournament in a bigger context and yes you will find it more interesting too.

Will you be available for the ICC Champions Trophy in 2025? Have you decided anything about your international future?

JN: I'm not retired, yes I'm a white ball specialist, so you know how much Test cricket the guys are playing at the moment, I'm not really involved in that setup so haven't had much discussion with you. Going forward I think in the next two-three months you know there's a lot of cricket to push my case for that tournament and I'll be playing the one-day tournament you know in New Zealand at home.

I haven't had those discussions at this stage, I'm still available and you know playing international cricket but we have to see how it goes down and with the New Zealand management and the selectors.

Who do you think is the greatest T20 cricketer of your time and the greatest T10 cricketer of your time even though T10 has lasted less than T20?

JN: I think, the greatest T20 cricketer, it has to be Andre Russell or Sunil Narine.

T10 cricketer. I mean, Nicky (Nicholas) Pooran is doing well, isn't he? In the tournaments I've seen. I think I would have picked Andre Russell first, if I had the first pick.

Among the 'Fab Four', who do you think will set the greatest world record?

JN: Joe Root or Virat (Kohli)? Joe Root in Test Cricket. England only play so many Tests. He is certainly in incredible form at the moment. That route is certainly there in Test cricket.

New Zealand finally broke the ICC trophy deadlock. How do you feel about your team's chances in the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy?

JN: Yeah, you know, it's a wide-open tournament. You know, it's a short format. You know, it's going to be all about hitting the ground running.

And we see that we have a better chance than anyone else in that tournament. Obviously, there's a lot of water to go under the bridge before that, but we're definitely going into any world championship, we can do anybody else's job.