After an intensely fought first ODI at the Wankhede Stadium, the action for the penultimate match of the series will move towards the Southern part of the country in the city of Visakhapatnam, where team India will take on Australia on March 19 (Sunday).
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The Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium will host only its tenth ODI on Sunday, as both teams continue their preparations for the ODI World Cup in India, later this year.
The contest will also bring back team India’s all format skipper Rohit Sharma back to the fold, after he had missed the first ODI owing to some family commitment. He is highly likely to partner Shubman Gill at the opening slot, with Southpaw batter Ishan Kishan to make way for him, after being dismissed cheaply – 3(8) in Mumbai tonight.
As for Australia, Steve Smith will continue leading the side in Pat Cummins’ absence, while David Warner and Alex Carey’s inclusion in the playing XI will remain subject to fitness.
Visakhapatnam Cricket Stadium pitch report
Visakhapatnam is set to host a One-dayer after more than a three-year gap, having last conducted the India versus West Indies ODI in December 2019.
The venue recently hosted a T20I between the hosts and South Africa, on a rather slowish track which aided the spinners. Having said that, overall the pitch at this venue will yet again assist the batters, who have managed to score 6.04 runs per Over on an average in the ODIs.
The average score batting first here across the nine ODIs has been 265 runs, with the chasing side having won five of them.
Hence, one can expect the batters to come hard particularly on the pacers come Sunday, with the spinners likely to control the middle-Overs phase. Dew is likely to be a factor in Vishakhapatnam. Hence, the captain winning the Toss will likely opt to chase.
Rohit Sharma- KL Rahul went berserk with the bat during last ODI in Vishakhapatnam
The pair of Rohit Sharma (159) and KL Rahul (102) had stitched together a 227-run partnership during team India’s last match at Visakhapatnam in December 2019.
On what was a batting paradise, the Virat Kohli-led side had posted 387/5 on the scoreboard in their 50 Overs, and eventually went on to win the match by 107 runs.
