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After a dismal outing in New Zealand, Pakistan batsman Azhar Ali is banking upon the home advantage in the upcoming Test series against South Africa.
Pakistan faced defeat in both the Tests against New Zealand and came out victorious in only one T20I on tour. Azhar feels the away tours have always been tough for Asian teams, but the situation changes on home soil. "Home conditions bring confidence in players. If you remember, our batsmen in previous two home series (against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh) had big chunks of runs and did really well," ESPNcricinfo quoted Azhar as saying. "But on away tours, it's always tough for Asian teams. But our batsmen fought it out. In England and New Zealand there was at least one batsman who made a century," he added. Banking upon the home soil advantage Azhar is hoping to make the best out of the two Test-match series against South Africa, which commences from January 26 "There is a different level of pressure on away tours, but at home, everyone expects nothing less than a win. We must take the responsibility as a team to win matches at home," said Azhar. "We will try to take this benefit [of playing at home] positively and maximise this opportunity at fullest to keep the opponent under pressure," he added. Last week, South Africa head coach Mark Boucher had said the Proteas have to come up with a proper game plan if they want to beat "dangerous" Pakistan in their own backyard. "Pakistan is a dangerous side at home; we will have to come up with a proper strategy to beat them at their own backyard," Boucher had said in a release issued by the Pakistan Cricket Board. (ANI)
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