Four charts that show Babar Azam is the next Virat Kohli in limited-overs cricket

Pakistan's newly-appointed T20 captain has been prolific with the bat in the white-ball game

Pakistan's cricket team captain Babar Azam speaks to reporters in Lahore, Pakistan, Friday, Oct. 25, 2019. Fast bowling could be Pakistan's biggest strength in the three-match Twenty20 series against Show more

Virat Kohli is the best white-ball batsman in the world. No player comes even close to his collective numbers in ODIs (11,520 runs at an average of 60.3) and T20Is (2,450 runs at 50). Plus, he is currently the only batsman to average 50 or more in all three formats of the game.

But as they say, records are there to be broken. Australia star batsman Steve Smith is already streets ahead of Kohli when it comes to Test cricket with the second best average in history - 64.5.

In limited overs cricket, there is one batsman who is fast gaining reputation as possibly the next Kohli - Pakistan's Babar Azam.

Babar, Pakistan’s newly appointed T20 captain, has made a superb start to his limited overs career. His stats in ODIs (3,359 runs at an average of 54.1) and T20Is (1,290 runs at 49.6) are as good as Virat’s in the game right now.

There are a few other stats that show Babar has it in him to reach the heights Kohli has in white-ball cricket.

In T20 Internationals, Babar holds the record for the fewest innings taken to reach 1,000 runs - 26. He overtook Kohli who held the previous record of 27 innings.

As we move to ODI cricket, the numbers point in the same direction. Babar was the joint second fastest to 2,000 ODI runs, taking 45 innings to reach the milestone. Kohli needed 53 outings to do so.

The Pakistan right-hand batsman was the second quickest to 3,000 runs in 50-over cricket - 68 innings. Kohli was behind him at that stage of his career, taking 75 innings to cross that mark.

If we look at where Babar and Kohli were after 72 ODI innings, the gap is substantial. The Pakistan batsman currently has 3,359 at an average of 54.1 with 11 centuries and 15 fifties. Kohli had a slower start to his ODI career, had 2,891 runs at an average of 46.6 with eight tons and 18 half-centuries.

Obviously, Babar has a long way to go as Kohli has been bossing the game for the best part of a decade. But the stats show that he is well on his way.

The one aspect that he needs to be wary of, though, is the pressure of captaincy. Batsmen either flourish or disintegrate under the burden of leadership; there is no middle ground.