There's a lot different about India's training drill lately. Nick Webb, their new strength and conditioning coach, gets the players lined up for sprints in two distinct rows one behind the other. The players in the front row have a towel tucked in at the back, and the ones in the back row have to chase and collect it. The towel is said to add purpose, but, it doesn't end there. The starting position of the players keeps changing too. So on the mark of "get, set, go", the players are sometimes stretching, sometimes have one hand tied at the back, and sometimes are just sitting idle -- all of it done to introduce "chaos" and train the brain better. Except that the chaos in front of India in Visakhapatnam will be of an entirely different kind.
Not context but chaos and combination India's focus in Vizag
India almost never not pick wickets with spin at home. But their spinners were wicketless in the 21 overs they bowled in Chennai, a venue that's used clay courts before to spook visiting teams. To make things worse, they got their combination totally wrong. "Very surprised" by West Indies's decision to bowl at the toss, Virat Kohli then only had Mohammed Shami and Deepak Chahar as pace backups to Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja's spin, leaving 10 overs between Shivam Dube and Kedar Jadhav -- one a debutant and the other not quite the bowler he was before hamstrings took over. West Indies picked them for 79 runs off 53 balls and chased 288 with 2.1 overs to spare.
Kohli might look to bring in a bowler for an allrounder but how effective will that be, especially against Shai Hope and Shimron Hetmyer, will be a thing to watch out. Both Hope and Hetmyer shared a 218-run stand for the second wicket in Chennai and return to the bonafide flat pitch they almost beat India on a year ago. They will look to go one better than a tie this time around and hand India only their third series defeat at home since the start of 2013.
Unlike the lead up to the first ODI, this second ODI isn't about context; it's instead about chaos and combination. Kieron Pollard termed this series "more important right now than World T20" in Chennai. Can India look to do the same in Visakhapatnam?
What: India vs West Indies, 2nd ODI at 1:30 PM local
Where: Dr. YSR ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, Visakhapatnam
What to expect: Shamiyanas housing hundreds of policemen along the periphery of the stadium, runs on the pitch and dew in the outfield. Interestingly, West Indies are the only team to beat India in the nine ODIs hosted here. The game in 2018 though was a
