Babar Azam has Virat Kholi's 'hunger and talent', says Pakistan batting coach Grant Flower

Pakistan batting coach Grant Flower believes Babar Azam has got Indian skipper Virat Kohli’s hunger and the talent to match his idol’s achievements one day.

Babar Azam displayed his class with the bat scoring an unbeaten century, in a must win clash against New Zealand on Wednesday, which sailed the Pakistan team to a six wickets victory over the black caps.

"He is very special. I believe he is going to be one of the best that Pakistan have ever produced. He's really hungry, is fit and still very young," Flower said.

"I think he'll have a really good career if he keeps his feet on the ground, which I think he will. He's got Virat's hunger. I think he could be at some point in the future," Flower added when asked about comparisons with Kohli.

Chasing a paltry score of 238 runs, Pakistan were 110/4 at the halfway stage of the match, after which Babar left no room for mistakes and saw the match through with his brilliant knock of 101 runs at the Edgbaston.

Moved by Babar’s performance, Grant Flower, said, "He's definitely got that hunger, so if you practice as hard as he does, and you have his skills, I can't see why he can't get to the top."

Babar Azam also became the second fastest player in the ODI’s to reach 3000 runs mark. The 24 year old pulled off the feat in 68 innings, which is seven less than Kholi’s.

Babar Azam is now behind South Africa’s Hashim Amla, who achieved the milestone in 11 fewer innings.

"He's had flu over the last couple of days. Tuesday was the first time I've not seen him hit any balls the day before a match.” Flower said.

"Confidence-wise, this is definitely his best one (century). I've seen him get quite a few hundreds on pretty flat wickets, but this was a tough wicket - it was turning, (Lockie) Ferguson was bowling fast and there was a lot of pressure because of the context of the tournament."