Vishakhapatnam: The port city of Visakhapatnam has seen more storms than international cricket matches. Hence, it was no surprise that the arrival of the Indian and West Indian teams for the second One-Day International caused more of a flutter than Lady Helen, she of the cyclonic persuasion.
In fact, the Andhra Cricket Association has gone about preparing for the ODI on a war-footing and has ensured the utmost readiness to stage the second ODI, even in the case of overnight rainfall, at the Dr Y.S.Rajasekhara Reddy ACAVDCA Cricket Stadium here on Sunday .
However, with the cyclone making landfall on Friday and making its way into other parts of Andhra Pradesh, the shroud has lifted somewhat with the sun breaking through the cloud cover, brightening both the city and the prospects of play happening on Sunday .
“In the last couple of months, we had staged two different series, one between India 'A' and New Zealand 'A' and the quadrangular under-19 series. During both series, there was overnight rain. But the following day's play wasn't affected in the slightest,“ said Kommaddi Naga Mallaiah, the BCCI-certified ACA pitch curator, who assures rainfall is unlikely to affect Sunday's match. “We have an excellent drainage system in place and a sand-based outfield. The pitch was prepared and ready four days before the match and since then, we have only been preparing for the storm,“ Mallaiah said, adding that over 90 per cent of the ground has been covered for the best part of the past few days.
As for the game itself, India come into the match with a 100 per cent win record at this venue. Their last victo ry, coincidentally, was against the same oppo nents back in December, 2011. The average total on this pitch is 287, with teams batting first scor ing an average of 293 and sides batting sec ond, 280. So it is expect ed to be a batsmen friendly wicket and that will only serve to delight Indian batsmen, especially likes of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, who have been in fine form.
The two youngsters had added 133 during India's six-wicket win in the first match of the series. India have won three of the four matches here chasing, the best being a victory by seven wickets.
So, this hints at the pitch being a little difficult under the lights in the beginning of the second innings and easing out as the match progresses.
For West Indies, the continuously-misfiring Chris Gayle continues to be a worry . For all their claims of putting the Test debacle behind them, the Caribbean islanders have failed to give any real competition to India.
Previous matches here, including IPL games, have shown that the pitch has something to offer the spinners. This bodes well for R. Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and part-timers like Suresh Raina.
