The three are also fierce competitors who follow each other's performance and try to outdo the other. Much like in the 1980s when the world's leading all-rounders Kapil Dev, Ian Botham, Imran Khan and Richard Hadlee tried to outdo each other.
Joe Root is to England what Virat Kohli is to India and Steve Smith is to Australia. The three are the batting mainstays in world cricket and are in the age bracket of 25-27 years with plenty of cricket still ahead of them.
The three are also fierce competitors who follow each other's performance and try to outdo the other. Much like in the 1980s when the world's leading all-rounders Kapil Dev, Ian Botham, Imran Khan and Richard Hadlee tried to outdo each other.
So, how does the English batsman look at the rivalry between the three?
"It doesn't really put me under pressure," Root said here on Friday, two days prior to the ICC World T20 final against the West Indies at the Eden Gardens.
"The only pressure is when you get there, playing in at that time. They are two fine players. I watch them play and try to learn from them as much as I can. That's really important, to keep looking at the best players in the world and how they go about their business and if there is anything I can improve my game from the way they play, I will try and take that on board," said the 25-year-old Yorkshireman.
England's highest run-getter with 195 runs at 48.75 and a strike-rate of 145.52 in this tournament was in awe of Kohli's statistics in this edition – 273 runs at 136.50 and a strike-rate of 146.77 with three fifties from five matches.
"Virat's played exceptionally well throughout this tournament, and there are many great players around the world in this format that you try and emulate them and add to my game what they do. More than anything else, it is about playing the situation on Sunday and get that right and if we can do that, hopefully, we will be winners."
Root and his England team trooped into the City of Joy on Thursday just when West Indies were plotting India's exit at the Wankhede. "I don't think it (not having India in the final) really matters," Root said, full of confidence. "If you have to win the World Cup, you have got to be the best team throughout the tournament. If we have to win, we have got to be the side to beat.
"It's about making sure we do our stuff in practice and go out there and put on a really strong performance and make sure we can do everything we can to get over the line," he said.
Root's 44-ball 83 in Mumbai against South Africa did the turnaround for England, who made the second highest successful run chase in T20Is. That victory came two days after being blown away by Chris Gayle's third fastest T20I ton at the same venue.
Asked what they did after that loss to the West Indies, England's No. 3 batsman said: "We have found ways of winning games of cricket which is important leading up to the final. We found ourselves in a number of different situations and we have overcome them. It means that whatever happens on Sunday, we have been in that situation before in this tournament and have got experience to fall back upon. That way, we have been successful.
That stands us in really good stead."
Pleased with his own performance, Root said that nothing much has changed much in their last four straight wins after beginning the tournament with the loss against the West Indies. Sunday won't be a better occasion to avenge that.
"I don't think there has been an astute swing in the way we approached practice or anything like that. When we went into the tournament, we stayed true to what we believed in as a side and the way we wanted to play cricket.
"I think that has been the most important thing for us, making sure we didn't go away from how we wanted to play and the way we wanted to approach our cricket. And, have self-belief in each other and in ourselves, and know that we could go out winning against South Africa and build confidence from that point onwards.
"The best thing is everyone is contributing in some way, shape or form. It is always nice to get into a final when things are not going as per plan and these are the guys you call upon that might not normally do the job," he said.
England's medium-pacers Chris Jordan, David Willey and Chris Tremlett have had a lion's share in the wickets, something that Root is confident of seeing again on Sunday. "The way we bowled at the death in the last couple of games has been outstanding. We want to put in one more strong performance in that area. It's about making sure the guys are making everything they can in practice and keep maintaining that performance, and give the best chance possible to be at their best."
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