Mike Hussey says Babar Azam is as good as Kohli, Smith

Australian great Mike Hussey on Tuesday waxed lyrical about Pakistan’s “brilliant” opening batsman Babar Azam, going as far as saying that he is closing in on the very best players in the world such as Indian captain Virat Kohli and Australian run-machine Steve Smith.

Babar scored a scintillating 157 against Australia A on day one of their three-match tour match, and did not add more only because he retired out in order to give other batsmen some practice.

Hussey was in awe of Babar following his knock, deeming it “a beautiful innings” in quotes that appeared on Fox Sports websites.

“He’s timed the ball magnificently all around the ground.”

WATCH: Watch Babar Azam deliver a masterclass in batting against Australia A

The man nicknamed Mr Cricket was so impressed with Azam that he tipped him to soon be rated as the very best in the world, provided that he can put together some big scores.

“I honestly believe this guy can be in the same conversation when we start talking about the best players in the world," Hussey is quoted as saying by the publication. "We start talking about (Virat) Kohli, Steve Smith, Kane Williamson, Joe Root gets floated around.

"I think if he can start putting together some big hundreds like this in the Test arena, he's that good ... he's a brilliant, brilliant player.”

Babar scored back-to-back half centuries in the recent T20I series which Pakistan lost to Australia 2-0. He will be the tourists’ frontline batsman in the upcoming Test series, which starts November 21.