After a shocking defeat in the first Test of the five-match series at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium, India are preparing to bounce back at Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam which is going to host the 2nd Test.
India have a formidable record in Test cricket in Vizag. Team India have played two Tests at the venue and won both in convincing ways.
Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium hosted its first-ever red-ball game in the international circuit when England played India in November 2016. The then-India captain Virat Kohli had led the team to a 246-run win over the tourists and was awarded the Player of the Match for his knocks of 167 and 81 in the first and the second innings respectively.
Ravichandran Ashwin bagged a fifer in the first innings of the game and therefore has fond memories of the venue.
Vizag hosted its second Test in October 2019 when India locked horns with South Africa in October 2019. Repeating their heroics from 2016, India mauled the Proteas by 203 runs after Mayank Agarwal scored a double hundred and Rohit Sharma racked up 176 in the first innings.
Ashwin was at the forefront of the action again as he bagged a seven-wicket haul in South Africa's first innings before Mohammed Shami snared a five-wicket haul in the second innings to make light work of the tourists. India registered a 203-run win at the end.
India squad for 2nd Test:
Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shreyas Iyer, KS Bharat (WK), Dhruv Jurel (WK), Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Avesh Khan, Rajat Patidar, Sarfaraz Khan, Washington Sundar, Saurabh Kumar.
England squad:
Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes (c), Ben Foakes (wk), Rehan Ahmed, Tom Hartley, Mark Wood, Jack Leach, Ollie Robinson, James Anderson, Daniel Lawrence, Gus Atkinson
Support Staff:
Brendon McCullum, Paul Collingwood, Marcus Trescothick, Jeetan Patel, Neil Killeen
