India’s second ODI loss in Vizag disappoints citizens

VISHAKHAPATNAM: Cricket fans of Visakhapatnam and those who reached the port city from Jharkhand and Odisha for the one-day international (ODI) match against Australia on Sunday faced a major disappointment when India got bundled out for mere 117 and went on to lose the match by 10 wickets at Dr YSR-ACA-VDCA Cricket Ground in Madhurawada area of the city.

First, the threat of rain kept the fans on tenterhooks. Most fans felt gloomy when it started raining heavily on Sunday morning. However, once clouds disappeared and sun shone all over, excitement increased among fans.

But their joy remained short-lived when wickets started falling at regular intervals.

“We all spent a night buying tickets and prepared ourselves for a 12-hour excitement at the stadium. We feel disappointed that we had to pack up before sunset,” said a couple of youngsters who came all the way from Bilaspur.

Vizag’s college students who saw their first international match turned quite upset with performance of the Indian team.

People hoped history will repeat, when in 2005 Mahendra Singh Dhoni slammed a century in his debut match against Pakistan on this ground.

Rohit Sharma ended up tasting his first defeat as India’s full-time one-day international captain since taking over from Virat Kohli in December 2021. Australia hammered India by 10 wickets to level the three-match ODI series 1–1.

India has so far played 10 ODIs in Visakhapatnam of which it has lost two. The first loss had been against West Indies in 2013. The second is Sunday’s against Australia. The last encounter with Australia on this ground had been in 2010 when India defeated Australia by five wickets.

The district administration, which planned a folk dance and cultural show outside the stadium, cancelled the programme.