'Best Test batter': Shane Watson picks Virat Kohli ahead of Steve Smith, Joe Root, Kane Williamson and Babar Azam

Shane Watson has picked Virat Kohli as the best batter among the 'big five' in Test cricket, preferring to not read much into the Indian maestro's failure to score a hundred since November 2019. As per Watson's list, the former India captain has pipped the likes of Steve Smith, Kane Williamson, Joe Root and Babar Azam. "In Test match cricket, I am always going to say Virat Kohli," Watson said when asked by Isa Guha who he thought is the best Test batter in the world, in his latest episode of the ICC Review. "It's nearly superhuman, what he is able to do because he has such high intensity every time he goes out to play," Watson added. While Kohli has slipped to 10th on the ICC rankings, the Indian great continues to hold a remarkable Test batting record. He has scored 27 Test centuries and 28 half-centuries and currently has a Test batting average of just under 50.

File Pic: Virat Kohli with Shane Watson. (TOI Photo)The world's current No.1 Test batter Marnus Labuschagne, who has played 26 Test matches and averages 54.31, would have increased the 'big 'five' to a 'big six', but was left out of the debate for this topic due to a 40-Test minimum criteria, the ICC said in a report on its official website. Regarding Pakistan skipper Babar, who he has kept at number two, Watson noted, "Babar Azam is playing incredibly well. "(It's great) to be able to see how he has adapted his game to really move his game to Test cricket as well. "Babar Azam would probably be No.2 at the moment." Babar is currently ranked the fifth best batter in the world and appears to be on the rise if his recent performances against Australia are anything to go by. He stroked a superb 196 during the second Test in Karachi and finished the series with a