India and West Indies are playing the second ODI of the 3-match series in Visakhapatnam. Courtesy to the vital hundreds of Shai Hope and Shimron Hetmyer, West Indies won the first match in Chennai, and they are 1-0 up in the series.
Ahead of the start of the 2nd ODI, the Windies players were noticed wearing black armbands. The Men in Maroon wore black armbands as a mark of respect for the 1960s star player Basil Butcher, who died on Monday at the age of 86.
The team takes a moment of silence in honour of the late West Indies great, Basil Butcher 🙏🏽#INDvsWI #MenInMaroon pic.twitter.com/5T62PB3jV3
— Windies Cricket (@windiescricket) December 18, 2019
Butcher played in the star-studded West Indian batting line-up of the 1960s such as Sir Garfield Sobers and Clive Lloyd. The Guyanese cricketer has 3104 runs in just 78 Test innings along with the highest score of unbeaten 209.
Butcher made his debut against India and scored seven hundred and 16 half-centuries at an average of 43.11. In his debut series, he scored 486 runs at an average of 69, hitting two centuries and three fifties.
The ongoing match is a crucial one for India. They need to win this at all costs to keep their series hopes alive.
Meanwhile, in the Vizag ODI, Shivam Dube is out of the playing XI as fast bowler Shardul Thakur has replaced him.