Pak coach keen on home advantage, Younis says performance matters

Pakistan's coach Intikhab Alam may be laying lot of stress on the advantage of having "home" pitches in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, but captain Younis Khan believes it does not decide the outcome of any series.

Alam, who visited the two venues in the Emirates to inspect the pitches and ground conditions, said they were similar to what one found in Pakistan.

"The wickets in Dubai and Abu Dhabi have been prepared keeping in mind our own strengths," Alam said on returning home. "We want to retain some kind of home advantage," he added.

The Pakistan Cricket Board sent special soil from Nandipur and its curators to help prepare the pitches at both venues one of which the Dubai sports city is hosting an international match for the first time.

"I am sure the pitches at both venues will produce high quality cricket as they are good for one-day matches. We expect them to be batting wickets but sporting ones," he said.

Younis, however, was blunt in stating that too much was made out of the pitches and home conditions by the media and experts.

"I don't think the conditions in Abu Dhabi and Dubai will give us any big advantage over Australia. Now a days pitches for one-day cricket are more or less the same all over the world," Younis said on the Geo Super sports channel.

The skipper said any team had to play to its optimum level and well to win against any team or on any pitch.

"Look even if we play badly against Bangladesh we will lose. I don't think pitches or conditions have that much influence on the outcome of a match it is how you play the match that matters the most and to beat the Australians we have to be play at a higher level then our normal levels," Younis said.

The captain and coach, however, agree on one thing and that despite the absence of captain, Ricky Ponting, Mike Hussey and the in-form, Mitchell Johnson the Australians remain a formidable side.

"The Australians are very professional and they have enough bench strength to overcome the absence of any player," Alam a former Pakistan captain said.

Younis also made it clear that he was not expecting miracles from fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar who returns to the side for the important series.

"I am not going to put any extra pressure on him and expect him to perform miracles. But I do want him and all the other players to just give their 100 per cent and play with commitment," he said.