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Broad picks best of the batting bunch

England and Hobart Hurricanes quick nominates his selection as the best batsman in the game

Fast bowler Stuart Broad has anointed England teammate Joe Root as the world’s pre-eminent batsman ahead of contemporaries Steve Smith and Virat Kohli.

At 25, England captain-in-waiting Root is the youngest of the trio, but he has been the leading run-scorer in Tests in 2016 with 1477 runs at 49.23, putting him ahead of teammates Jonny Bairstow (1470) and Alastair Cook (1270).

But it is worth noting Root has played 17 Tests this year, while Kohli and Smith have appeared in 12 and 11 matches respectively.

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India skipper Kohli – regarded by many as the world’s best batsman across all formats – hammered 655 runs in five Tests, including a stunning 235 in Mumbai, in his team’s recent 4-0 series victory over England.

On the back of 1215 runs at 75.93 this year, Kohli’s Test average is now above 50 and he is the No.2 ranked batsman behind Smith.

The Australia skipper has 914 runs, including three centuries, at 60.93 in 2016.

However, Smith’s overall Test average (58.49) is far superior to Root (52.80) and Kohli (50.10).

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Broad, who is representing the Hobart Hurricanes in this season’s KFC Big Bash League, has dismissed Smith six times in Test matches and removed Kohli on only three occasions.

The Hurricanes quick's declaration that Root is superior to his rivals may raise eyebrows given the Englishman has 11 centuries and 27 half-centuries to his name, while Smith (16 and 19) and Kohli (15 and 14) have displayed a greater ability to cash in and convert starts into big scores.

However Broad did acknowledge the fact that he has seen Root's career at such close quarters could be a factor in his decision.

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“I’d say Joe Root, but just because I’ve played a huge amount of cricket with him,” Broad told cricket.com.au when asked to rate the trio.

“I know that he makes runs in a lot of conditions, pretty much all conditions, and he has scored runs at really big times for us as an England team.

“I think when you’ve played closely with someone for that long period of time, you see a lot of their strengths. He in my mind is built up to be the best player I’ve seen because I see him every day.”

Smith is the only player of the three not ranked in the top 10 batsmen in all three formats.

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Kohli is second on the ODI rankings and tops the T20 rankings, while Root is placed eighth and seventh in the shorter formats and third in Tests.

Smith is ranked 10th in ODIs and equal 91st in T20, but his extraordinary performances since becoming Test captain in 2014 mean he is on track to be one of Australia’s greatest players.

Since the start of 2014, Smith has hammered 3534 Test runs at 72.12, while Root (3639 at 59.65) and Kohli (2702 at 54.04) have also been prolific.

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Broad had a first-hand view as Kohli flaunted his full skill-set, slamming two tons and two half-centuries in the recent Test series during England’s tour of India.

“One thing about Virat, the only dismissal you feel in the game with is a nick,” Broad said.

“He’s so strong off the pads and he doesn’t really get bowled a huge amount.

“In the conditions we played there, his hunger for runs was just spectacular. The likes of Steve Smith and Joe Root, they have this consistency of every time they go out to bat they’re just desperate to score big runs and that makes them the top of the tree – that makes them the best players in the world.”

Smith and Kohli are set to tussle in Australia's tour of India in February, while the Australian and Root will go head-to-head in next summer’s Ashes.

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