Babar Azam came back with the perfect reply when a fan asked him how he felt about being the "Virat Kohli of Pakistan," on Sunday, during a question and answer session on Twitter.

The fan asked Azam how he would feel about being called Pakistan's Virat Kohli:

Azam did not keep the fan waiting and said: "There is no comparison. Virat Kohli is a great batsman and I am just a beginner. But I would like to be recalled as [the] Babar Azam of Pakistan."

The twitter fan was not the first one to compare Azam to Kohli, "He [Azam] is a young gun who will be an exceptional player. I'll go so far as to say, at the same age, I reckon he's as good as Virat Kohli, which I know that's high praise but he's right up there," coach Mickey Arthur told Perth's 6PR radio. last year.

Lahori by birth, Babar Azam is known for his level-headed attitude at the crease. He evolved by performing from a young age, starting off his professional cricketing career by playing in the Under-15 World Championships in 2008 and slowly crawling his way up the order by representing Pakistan in the Under-19 World Cups of 2010 and 2012.

After making a name as a consistent top-scorer in age-restricted national events, Babar was called up to represent the green shirts in a home ODI series against Zimbabwe, allowing him to make his international debut on the home ground amidst Pakistan's isolation as an international cricketing venue.

On January 19, Babar Azam smashed his way to the quickest 1,000 runs in Pakistan One Day International (ODI) history in just 21 innings, to become the joint-fastest player to reach the record first set 37 years ago, alongside West Indies great Sir Viv Richards, England's Kevin Pietersen and Jonathon Trott, and South Africa's Quinton de Kock.

The 22-year-old right handed batsman broke into the Top 10 ODI batsmen ICC Player Rankings, jumping 5 places to reach the 10th spot, when he racked up 100 runs in Adelaide during January's ODI series against Australia, in which he scored a total of 282 runs on January 27.

Heading into the Champions Trophy, Babar was already reckoned as someone who had the ability to stabilise Pakistan's shaky middle-order.

The high expectations accompanying him meant his '50-less' Champions Trophy run disappointed some fans and critics at home. However, Babar's top score during the tournament came in the crucial final, where he scored 46 before getting caught as a result of a miscued slog off Jadhav's delivery.

In spite of his poorer-than-expected performance in the tournament, Babar still averages over 50 in his 31 ODI appearances and has leapfrogged several spots to reach a career-best fifth place on the ICC's ODI Batsmen Rankings.

Owing to his relatively young age, Babar looks set to be a regular on the Pakistani side for at least the upcoming decade.