Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting warned his countrymen against the looming threat of Babar Azam, by far Pakistan's best batsman, ahead of the two-match Test series starting November 21 in Brisbane. 

Considered a batting prodigy, Babar kickstarted preparations for the series with a few delightful knocks in the two warm-up games, including a famous 157 against Australia A in Perth. 

Babar's record, however, suggests he hasn't yet nailed it in Test cricket like he has in the shorter formats for Pakistan. 

"We haven't seen the best of him yet," Ponting told cricket.com.au. "Twenty-odd Tests for an average of 35 – he's better than that. He averages 54 in one-day cricket at a strike-rate of about 90."

"He's a very, very classy player. He's a really exciting talent and probably the guy I'm looking forward to seeing the most this summer."

"I've seen the Aussies a lot and I've seen a lot of the Kiwis, but I'm really excited to see him. He could be anything."

Babar first caught Ponting's attention in Taunton earlier this year when he was Australia's assistant coach for the World Cup in UK. The 25-year-old smashed away seven fours in his 28-ball stay against a quality pace attack. 

"He looked like he was playing a different game," Ponting said. "As soon as we over-pitched, he banged it through the covers or banged it down the ground. And when we dropped short, he got onto that pretty quickly as well."

Babar himself is focussed on acclimatising to the conditions even better. 

"There is just a bit more bounce and pace here so it requires a wee bit of adjustment," he said. "But the more you practice and play here, the more you get used to it."

"My goal always is to perform in every single match. The way my form is right now, I want to continue that and carry it into Test matches."

(Inputs from cricket.com.au)