Azhar hopes Pakistan will finish tour on a high

KARACHI: Six defeats in seven matches. That is why it was hardly surprising when Pakistan’s ODI captain Azhar Ali admitted on Wednesday that home is on the mind of the tourists ahead of their tour-ending match in Adelaide on Thursday (today).

Pakistan were whitewashed in the three-Test series and have already lost the ongoing ODI series after back-to-back defeats in Perth and Sydney.

Azhar Ali said that his team will want to finish the otherwise catastrophic tour on a winning note by beating the Aussies in the fifth and final ODI today.

“We have been away from home for a long time, just went for a week after the England tour (in July-August),” Azhar told reporters on Wednesday. “So we have been away from home for a long, long time so it has been quite hard anyway.

“If we finish off with a win, that will give us a lot of good relief going home,” he added.

The Australians, meanwhile, want to keep on winning.

Despite being the only one to turn up to training, Glenn Maxwell says his Australia teammates are hell bent on keeping their momentum rolling in today’s game against Pakistan.

The Australians, holding a 3-1 lead in the series ahead of the final match, held an optional training session at Adelaide Oval yesterday. Maxwell was the only player to train, having a brief net session ahead of the Australia Day encounter.

“It’s the guys’ preference ... most of the guys have been flat-chat for most of the summer,” Maxwell told reporters.

“I have been working on a routine and trying to keep that routine as consistent as possible and hopefully that leads to consistent performances on the field as well.”

While the series has been decided, Maxwell said the Australians had much to play for against the Pakistanis.

“Especially individually, I think there’s still a lot of Champions Trophy spots up for grabs which is obviously in the distance and there is a New Zealand series around the corner as well,” he said.

“It’s a really important game to make sure not only you’re winning as a team, you’re keeping that winning momentum because sometimes it’s an easy thing to lose. If you take the foot off the gas at any stage, it can be long, bumpy road back.”

Maxwell said the timing of the match on a celebrated public holiday in Australia gave the cricketers added motivation.

“A lot of the Australia Days I remember growing up are pretty similar to Boxing Day where it’s very iconic,” he said.

“It’s something you love, sitting down on Australia Day with a bit of a barbecue and watching Australia play one-day cricket — and generally an entertaining game of one-day cricket, that is something we will be hoping to provide.“And having built up the whole series, getting better and better as the series has gone, we will be really looking forward to putting on a fully clinical performance throughout the whole game.

“We have shown glimpses with the bat. We have shown glimpses with the ball and glimpses in the field. But to put that perfect game together, which is what we’re always striving for, is what we’ll be aiming for.”