Pakistan great Younis Khan is tipping Babar Azam to eventually fill the sizeable void he left in the Test team.

Younis played his last international match 12 months ago, and since then Pakistan have lost a Test series against Sri Lanka and defeated Ireland in their historic debut in the five-day format.

They next come up against England in a two-match series Younis thinks will be important to blood the future of Pakistan cricket.

And he earmarked Babar, who has made 548 runs in 12 Tests so far in his fledgling career, as a player who has the potential to become a star.

"I think Babar will be [the next Younis]," he told Omnisport.

"I think he's extremely stylish and he has the potential. If he plays, and he works on his fitness, then I think he will perform a lot for Pakistan."

Younis retired at the same time as fellow legend Misbah-ul-Haq, but he is confident there are enough emerging players coming through to carry the team forward.

"They will handle it. People have a lot of concerns about this [struggling to cope with the pressure] but I think they will be okay," he added.

"Babar is growing up and he performs not only in the one-dayers and Twenty20 games, he performs everywhere.

"So, I think they will be able to handle these kinds of conditions and I think Pakistan is in a good shape as well, so I think this will be a nice series."

Asked who he expects to stand out in the Tests against England, Younis replied: "I think Azhar Ali is in good form, I think Asad [Shafiq] needs some back-up and he should lift his game as well.

"So, I think these two and Sarfraz [Ahmed] - he is a good leader. I think they will be able to handle this pressure."