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While in Vizag, it's hard to miss the makeover in progress. The city walls are being painted and the roads relaid as Andhra Pradesh's newly declared capital gets ready to host the G20 summits. As a countdown to the event, a city marathon from RK beach was being organised for Sunday morning before it had to be postponed owing to bad weather. The Andhra Cricket Association will hope that the second ODI between India and Australia, which is yet another reminder of Vizag's ambitions as a city and which is scheduled on the same day as the marathon, doesn't witness weather getting in the way.
India arrive in the city with a lead but well aware that there wasn't much between the sides in Mumbai. And that on the kind of batting-friendly pitches that are usually dished up in Vizag, Australia's dauntingly long line-up populated with allrounders could hurt them. In the absence of Jasprit Bumrah, death bowling is something India would like to look at. KL Rahul's form in the middle order, though, would continue to give them hope; it's a long-term World Cup plan that seems to be coming off just in time.
Australia, on the other hand, were beaten at their own game at the Wankhede. On a pitch with nagging seam movement right through, their seamers couldn't quite get the older ball talking like Mohammed Shami did for India earlier. Here in Vizag though, they will be looking forward to getting attuned to the kind of surface that will be closer to what the World Cup games will have on offer. How they assess what's a good total or defend it with a wet ball will be a huge learning curve. With as many eight batters in the side, it would be interesting to see how Australia fare.
When: 2nd ODI on Sunday, March 19 at 1:30pm local
Where: Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, Visakhapatnam
What to expect: Scattered thunderstorms are forecast in the afternoon, so a rain-curtailed game cannot be ruled out. The pitches here have tended to be very good for shot making and India amassed 387/5 against the West Indies here in 2019. Five out the eight men's ODIs here have ended in favour of the chasing side, with one match tied.
Team news:
India: With only a day between the games, India had no scheduled practice session on the eve of the game. Rohit Sharma is expected to lead the side after missing the first ODI due to personal commitments. India could rest Mohammed Shami, who had a long bowl in the fourth Test and bowled full tilt in the first ODI.
Probable XI: Shubman Gill, Rohit Sharma (c), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, KL Rahul (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Umran Malik/Jaydev Unadkat
Australia: Alex Carey missed the first ODI due to illness but is expected to be back for this one. David Warner, who was sidelined with concussion and hairline fracture of the elbow, is also likely to return and which middle order batter he could squeeze out is anybody's guess. There's certainly pressure on Marnus Lanuschagne to deliver; the batter has averaged a shade over 33 in his 21 innings at No.4, a batting position Australia are keen to get right.
Probable XI: David Warner, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Steven Smith (c), Alex Carey (wk), Cameron Green, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Sean Abbott, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa
Did you know?
India have won each of their last 8 ODIs while Australia have won seven of their last 11.
The Warner-Head opening combination averages 114 across seven innings.
What they said:
"We're experimenting with a few different combinations, playing eight batters... We understand that if we're going to play eight batters, we still need to play a certain way up until the 35th over or whatever it might be, and then when the time comes we can assert some authority on that with our back-end power hitters." - Marcus Stoinis is open to trial and error in preparation for the World Cup.
"It was fun batting with Jadeja. The minute the left-hander walked in, I got a few loose balls . That happens to the best of bowlers. Jaddu batted beautifully and he runs hard between the wickets. He is in great form and he knows what to do in those situations." - KL Rahul on the win in Mumbai.
Squads:
Australia Squad: Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Steven Smith(c), Marnus Labuschagne, Josh Inglis(w), Cameron Green, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Sean Abbott, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, David Warner, Ashton Agar, Alex Carey, Nathan Ellis
India Squad: Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, KL Rahul(w), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Mohammed Shami, Ishan Kishan, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Umran Malik, Jaydev Unadkat
India arrive in the city with a lead but well aware that there wasn't much between the sides in Mumbai. And that on the kind of batting-friendly pitches that are usually dished up in Vizag, Australia's dauntingly long line-up populated with allrounders could hurt them. In the absence of Jasprit Bumrah, death bowling is something India would like to look at. KL Rahul's form in the middle order, though, would continue to give them hope; it's a long-term World Cup plan that seems to be coming off just in time.
Australia, on the other hand, were beaten at their own game at the Wankhede. On a pitch with nagging seam movement right through, their seamers couldn't quite get the older ball talking like Mohammed Shami did for India earlier. Here in Vizag though, they will be looking forward to getting attuned to the kind of surface that will be closer to what the World Cup games will have on offer. How they assess what's a good total or defend it with a wet ball will be a huge learning curve. With as many eight batters in the side, it would be interesting to see how Australia fare.
When: 2nd ODI on Sunday, March 19 at 1:30pm local
Where: Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, Visakhapatnam
What to expect: Scattered thunderstorms are forecast in the afternoon, so a rain-curtailed game cannot be ruled out. The pitches here have tended to be very good for shot making and India amassed 387/5 against the West Indies here in 2019. Five out the eight men's ODIs here have ended in favour of the chasing side, with one match tied.
Team news:
India: With only a day between the games, India had no scheduled practice session on the eve of the game. Rohit Sharma is expected to lead the side after missing the first ODI due to personal commitments. India could rest Mohammed Shami, who had a long bowl in the fourth Test and bowled full tilt in the first ODI.
Probable XI: Shubman Gill, Rohit Sharma (c), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, KL Rahul (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Umran Malik/Jaydev Unadkat
Australia: Alex Carey missed the first ODI due to illness but is expected to be back for this one. David Warner, who was sidelined with concussion and hairline fracture of the elbow, is also likely to return and which middle order batter he could squeeze out is anybody's guess. There's certainly pressure on Marnus Lanuschagne to deliver; the batter has averaged a shade over 33 in his 21 innings at No.4, a batting position Australia are keen to get right.
Probable XI: David Warner, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Steven Smith (c), Alex Carey (wk), Cameron Green, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Sean Abbott, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa
Did you know?
India have won each of their last 8 ODIs while Australia have won seven of their last 11.
The Warner-Head opening combination averages 114 across seven innings.
What they said:
"We're experimenting with a few different combinations, playing eight batters... We understand that if we're going to play eight batters, we still need to play a certain way up until the 35th over or whatever it might be, and then when the time comes we can assert some authority on that with our back-end power hitters." - Marcus Stoinis is open to trial and error in preparation for the World Cup.
"It was fun batting with Jadeja. The minute the left-hander walked in, I got a few loose balls . That happens to the best of bowlers. Jaddu batted beautifully and he runs hard between the wickets. He is in great form and he knows what to do in those situations." - KL Rahul on the win in Mumbai.
Squads:
Australia Squad: Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Steven Smith(c), Marnus Labuschagne, Josh Inglis(w), Cameron Green, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Sean Abbott, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, David Warner, Ashton Agar, Alex Carey, Nathan Ellis
India Squad: Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, KL Rahul(w), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Mohammed Shami, Ishan Kishan, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Umran Malik, Jaydev Unadkat
