Babar has all the tools to emulate Kohli: Flower

Pakistan’s batting coach Grant Flower believes that prolific batsman Babar Azam has all the tools to emulate the career of Indian skipper Virat Kohli.

Flower praised the 24-year-old’s hunger to score runs and believes the batsman has a bright future ahead.

"He's got Virat's hunger. I think he could be at some point in the future,” said Flower. "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."

The batting coach stated that Azam was a special talent and will be one of the greatest batsmen ever produced by Pakistan.

"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,” he said. "I think he'll have a really good career if he keeps his feet on the ground, which I think he will.”

Flower claimed that Azam’s century against New Zealand on Wednesday was one of his greatest innings.

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

The batting coach further revealed that Azam had a flu before the match which resulted in a lack of throw-downs before the match.

"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," he said.

Flower was optimistic about Pakistan’s chances and stated that the top teams were now under pressure.

"It's quite exciting, I think. For the first part of the tournament, it didn't seem like it was going to be, but now there's pressure on some of the top teams. It's good,” he said. "After today, it definitely puts us in a good position. It's just our net run-rate, and obviously, those first few games didn't help us."