Preview: India vs West Indies 2nd ODI in Visakhapatnam

On the back of their resounding victory over India in the Chennai ODI on Sunday, West Indies are expected to be high on confidence, eyeing a series win against India at Visakhapatnam on Wednesday. A lot is on the line for Virat Kohli’s men as they have not lost two consecutive bilateral series at home, for more than 15 years. Earlier in the year, India had lost a 5-match ODI series against Australia 3-2. But all the spectators who will be heading to the Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Stadium on Wednesday will be hoping for another mouth-watering encounter between these two teams after last year’s high-scoring tie.

As it happened on Sunday, India, who were put in to bat by West Indies, scored an above-par 287. In reply, West Indies didn’t break a sweat as they chased down the target, on the back of Hetmyer and Hope’s 200-plus runs partnership. Despite the defeat, skipper Kohli was impressed with Shreyas Iyer’s continuing purple patch and Rishabh Pant’s return to form.

The Indian contingent arrived in the city of Visakhapatnam on Monday. Jasprit Bumrah made a special appearance in the Tuesday net sessions, as part of his rehabilitation after the back injury.

The weather is likely to stay clear for the duration of the match, though the humidity is again expected to test the players’ fitness. The pitch, of late, has assisted the spinners but with the small boundaries, this game can be expected to be another high-scoring one. Dew is expected to get involved in the second innings and the team winning the toss should bowl first. Spectators will be allowed into the stadium, 2 hours prior to the game. Water bottles & water packets are not allowed in the stadium for this ODI between India and West Indies, as requisite arrangements will be made within the stadium at Visakhapatnam, an Andhra Cricket Association (ACA) official reported.

India would want Virat Kohli to strike gold at one of his favourite venues. He has scored 556 runs in 5 games here, at an average of 139, with 3 centuries and 2 fifties. On the other hand, West Indies would want the Hope-Hetmyer duo to click again.

Match Predictions

West Indies are on a high, after winning the first ODI but India shouldn’t be counted out in Visakhapatnam, come Wednesday. Ultimately, toss could play a major role as teams bowling first have won 5 out of the 8 ODIs played here.

The Windies are expected to remain unchanged from the first ODI, with the exception of Evin Lewis if he is deemed fit. After the Windies batsmen negated India’s spinners with ease, India could look to bring back Kul-Cha, at the loss of Dube or Jadeja.