India are all in a spin after losing a scarcely believable 20 coin tosses in a row in ODIs — at odds of more than 1 million-to-one.
Stand-in captain K.L. Rahul said that he was flummoxed at the run of bad luck that goes all the way back to the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup final in Ahmedabad, India, when Rohit Sharma was in charge.
“I’ve been practicing, but clearly it’s not working,” Rahul said after losing the flip again in the second ODI against South Africa in Raipur on Wednesday.
Photo: AFP
The odds against losing 20 consecutive coin tosses are 1,048,576-to-one, a statistical anomaly that Rahul wants to end in the third and final ODI in Visakhapatnam tomorrow.
“Honestly, that’s the most pressure I’ve had because we haven’t won a toss in a long time,” Rahul said after seeing opposite number Temba Bavuma call correctly.
Three India captains — Rohit, regular ODI skipper Shubman Gill and Rahul — have all tried and failed to win a toss since the last correct call against New Zealand on Nov. 15, 2023, in the World Cup semi-final in Mumbai.
“Rahul said that he’d been practicing, but how do you know what the opposition captain is going to call?” batting great Sunil Gavaskar told broadcaster JioStar. “Because you know, for the first game [against South Africa], it was Aiden Markram who was captain. So Markram might be a person who likes opting for heads and Temba Bavuma might be a captain who likes to opt for tails.”
Former South Africa pace bowler Dale Steyn said that Faf du Plessis once asked Bavuma to toss for him after a lengthy losing sequence.
“It’s the first time I have ever seen a captain ask one of the other players to come and do a toss,” Steyn said. “Temba also lost that toss.”
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