Brisbane, Dec 12 (IANS): Legendary Australian spinner and cricket commentator Shane Warne has included India Test captain Virat Kohli in his list of five best batsmen in Test cricket in the current times.

Warne completed his best-five batsmen list with two Australians and one each from India, England and New Zealand. He picked Aussie batter Steve Smith as his first choice.

"Smith, who was recently appointed Test vice-captain of the Australian team, has been a prolific run-scorer in modern-day cricket," Warner reckoned, adding, "He has the amazing potential to play against all bowling attacks in the world, irrespective of the conditions."

Smith has so far scored 7552 runs in 78 Tests at an astounding average of 61.4 with the help of 27 hundred and 31 half-centuries.

"I've got Steve Smith. I just think overall conditions against all bowling attacks for a long period of time Steve Smith has been outstanding," said Warne in a video clip shared by Fox Cricket on their official Instagram handle.

For the second choice, Warne went with England Test skipper Joe Root who has been phenomenal this calendar year. He has scored more than 1500 runs this year with the help of six centuries. Root is also the top-rank holder among the Test batters in the ICC players' rankings.

After Root, Warne picked New Zealand and India Test captains Kane Williamson and Kohli, respectively.

Warne felt Williamson would always be there on the list due to his consistency. For the Indian star, the 52-year-old observed, Kohli has gone down a little in his form in 2021.

"Williamson is always there. Kohli just dropped off a little bit. Marnus (Labuschagne) rounds up the top five for me," added Warne.