Watch: Babar Azam Hilariously Calls Saud Shakeel 'Chhota Don' During Training

Pakistan, on Thursday (November 23), began their preparations for the upcoming tour of Australia. After the disappointing campaign in the recently concluded World Cup, Pakistan will be looking to make amends in the forthcoming three-match Test series in Australia.

The training camp is currently underway at the Pindi Cricket Stadium. Despite the poor show at the World Cup, the mood in the camp was positive as the players began their preparation for the challenging tour. One of the most notable incidents took place when Babar Azam came up with a hilarious nickname for his teammate Saud Shakeel.

When Shakeel took a good catch during the slip-catching drill, the former Pakistan captain called him ‘Chhota Don’ (Little Don). ‘Chhota Don’ is a popular character from the Bollywood film ‘Partner’ and was portrayed by comedian Rajpal Yadav.

From now on, Saud Shakeel is a chota don. Babar gave a new nickname to Saud Shakeel. ??#BabarAzam? #SaudShakeel pic.twitter.com/xcNRf8flkz

— Shaharyar Ejaz ? (@SharyOfficial) November 23, 2023

Babar Azam looked in good spirits throughout despite giving up captaincy in all three formats after the poor campaign in the World Cup. The Men in Green failed to advance to the semifinals after managing to win just 4 of their 9 league games. They finished at the fifth spot in the ten-team competition.

“Today was our first day of training. We are preparing for Australian conditions, and just like the pitches we will encounter there, our team management and groundsmen have prepared pitches here specifically according to those requirements. Our main focus is to start practicing based on the conditions there,” said Pakistan’s newly-appointed bowling coach Umar Gul.

Babar Azam eyes redemption:

Babar Azam will be looking to shut down his critics in the upcoming tour of Australia. His credentials as one of the best batsmen in the world have been questioned after his struggles in pressure games in recent times. In the World Cup, he scored 320 runs in 9 games at an average of 40 and a strike rate of just over 80.

Pakistan squad for Australia Tests: Shan Masood (captain), Aamir Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Khurram Shahzad, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Noman Ali, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk), Saud Shakeel and Shaheen Shah Afridi.