Babar Azam has broken numerous Virat Kohli records of late. The Pakistan skipper first went past the India star's milestone of being the fastest captain to a thousand runs in T20Is. Subsequently, Babar Azam became the only cricketer in the world to hit three consecutive hundreds in ODIs twice.

Last month, the Lahore-born player leapfrogged Virat Kohli to occupy the No.1 spot in the T20I rankings for the longest reign at the top. While Virat Kohli sat at the perch for 1,013 days during the last decade, Babar Azam has surpassed that total with his continuing stay at the numero uno position in the ICC's charts.

As Babar Azam has been dismantling Virat Kohli's records for fun nowadays, he has often been compared with the former India captain. Though Virat Kohli is already a legend, having made more than 23,000 runs in international cricket, Pakistan star Babar Azam's consistency has put him in pole position to go past Virat Kohli's overall record by the time he turns 30.

Pakistan's Imam-ul-Haq has now come out with his verdict on the Babar Azam vs Virat Kohli debate. While he acknowledged that Virat Kohli was a legendary cricketer, he claimed that Babar Azam would surpass the Indian's tally of runs in the future.

“Virat Kohli is a legend and there’s no doubt about that. If someone has played 240 plus matches and someone 80, then you can’t compare them. If you compare their careers right now, then Babar is way ahead, but as my best friend and captain of Pakistan, I want him to break plenty of Kohli’s records,” Imam-ul-Haq said on SAMAA News.

“But right now, I can’t understand the comparisons. One has more than 10,000 runs. Yes, at the end of their careers, I want Babar to score 3 to 4 thousand runs more than Kohli in every format,” Imam-ul-Haq added.

Earlier, Imam-ul-Haq said that Rohit Sharma is far more talented than Virat Kohli. He reckons that Virat Kohli doesn't possess the same amount of talent as the current India skipper.

“I feel that the amount of talent Allah has given to Rohit Sharma,  he has not given it to Virat Kohli perhaps. I have seen both of them bat, it seems like Rohit is batting in a replay. He has a lot of time. The first time I realised the true meaning of timing because I mostly field at point and I get to know. Virat Kohli has batted in front of me, so has Rohit Sharma but Rohit has been gifted a lot of time by Allah,” Imam-ul-Haq said.

“He is one player who can change the game in two seconds. When he is set, he can hit at will. My wish is to give as influential performances like Rohit. If I play that style of cricket for Pakistan, I would be very happy,” Imam-ul-Haq concluded.

At present, Virat Kohli is undergoing a lean patch with the bat. The Delhi-born cricketer's last century in international cricket came way back in the historic Pink-ball Test against Bangladesh at the iconic Eden Gardens in Kolkata in 2019.

On Thursday, Virat made his return to the Indian ODI side at Lord's for the second game of the three-match series against England. He didn't feature in the first ODI due to a groin injury.

But a change in the format didn't alter his fortunes as his struggles outside the off-stump continued in London. The 33-year-old lost his wicket for 16 after edging a wide David Willey delivery to wicketkeeper and England captain Jos Buttler.

Before Virat Kohli joined the Rohit Sharma-led Team India in the second ODI, he featured in two T20I games against England but could only register scores of 1 and 11 in his innings at Edgbaston and Trent Bridge respectively.

Virat Kohli also took part in the fifth and fifth final Test against the Three Lions at Birmingham but couldn't reignite his form as he was dismissed for 11 and 20 in his two knocks there.

Virat Kohli had a woeful run in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and could score only 341 runs at a dismal average of 22.73 in 16 matches.

Virat Kohli will be back in action for India on Sunday when Rohit Sharma and his men will face Jos Buttler-led England in the third and final ODI at Old Trafford in Manchester.

According to several experts, Virat Kohli's performance in the match would have a deep impact on his cricket career, considering he has been rested from the upcoming tour of the West Indies.

In nutshell, if Virat Kohli fails to score a big score at Old Trafford, he could see his place taken over by a talented youngster in the Indian team, and he may not board the flight to Australia for the T20 World Cup Down Under.

India squad for third ODI: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Ishan Kishan, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Prasidh Krishna, Mohd Shami, Mohd Siraj, Arshdeep Singh