Babar Azam during the match where he became the joint-fastest to 1000 ODI runs, Australia v Pakistan, 3rd ODI, Perth, January 19, 2017/Getty Images 

Pakistan middle-order batsman Babar Azam played down his comparison with India captain Virat Kohli, when asked about it by a fan in a Twitter Q&A session.

The fan asked Azam how he would feel about being called the "Virat Kohli of Pakistan".

"There is no comparison. Virat Kohli is a great batsman and I am just a beginner. But I would like to be recalled as Babar Azam of Pakistan :)", Azam replied.

Pakistan head coach Mickey Arthur has also compared Azam to Kohli in the past, saying the 22-year-old batsman reminded him of the India skipper at the same age.

"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," Arthur had said.

In January this year, Azam became the joint-fastest player in history to score 1,000 career runs in one-day internationals, equalling the record with the West Indies great Viv Richards, England's Kevin Pietersen and Jonathan Trott as well as South Africa's Quinton de Kock.

Since debuting in 2015, Azam has scored 1,455 runs in 31 ODI innings at an average of 53.88. He is currently the highest-ranked ODI batsman from Pakistan at number five.