Pakistan can beat Australia on Friday to keep alive their hopes of winning the current one-day series, coach Intikhab Alam said on Thursday.
Despite being 2-1 down after losing the third game Monday, Pakistan was still determined to win the remaining two games and the series, Alam said, if only for their fans back home.
"We desperately want to win the series for the sake of millions of fans... who have been deprived of watching (international) matches" by security concerns, Alam said.
Pakistan was forced to move the current series to neutral venues in the United Arab Emirates after Australia refused to tour Pakistan, citing the high security risks.
Pakistan started the series promisingly by winning the first match by four wickets. But Australia came back strongly, winning the second match by six wickets and the third by 27 runs here Monday.
Despite Pakistan's setback, Alam believes Australia are still beatable.
"If you look at the results of the last two matches, they did not outplay us. We made mistakes in batting, especially in the third match," he said of his team's failure Monday to chase a modest 199-run target.
Pakistan were cruising along at 95-0 before Australian spinners Nathan Hauritz and Michael Clarke shared six wickets between them, to blow their opponents away for 171.
Alam said he had asked his senior batsmen to take more responsibility.
"We had a pep talk for two hours before training Wednesday and I told my senior batsmen that they must stay at the wicket and put a value on their wickets," he said.
Pace spearhead Shoaib Akhtar, rested for the third match, will return at the expense of Sohail Tanvir. Pakistan may also strengthen their batting by including spinning all-rounder Fawad Alam in place of off-spinner Saeed Ajmal.
Ajmal's bowling action was reported as illegal after the second match, a decision which affected his performance as he failed to get any wicket in the third match.
Clarke, Australia's captain, said his players will be on their toes Friday.
"Obviously, they need to win on Friday but don't worry, we will be doing our best to make sure that we prepare better than we have done thus far in this series," said Clarke.
"It's a big game for us too, we really want to win... Pakistan have to be under pressure because they have to win to stay in the series, so we need to be more focused on what we are doing."
Fast bowler Brett Lee joined the Australian squad Tuesday and trained with them for two days. However, he is unlikely to play as the team management is still assessing his progress towards full fitness after injury.
Coach Tim Nielsen said Lee may get a chance in the only Twenty20 on the tour, scheduled for Dubai on May 7.
Pakistan can still win, says coach
Advertisement