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.”
SEESAW CONTEST: The Pistons remain top of the Eastern Conference after battling to a win over the Hawks in a game that saw the lead change 27 times The Phoenix Suns on Monday shrugged off an injury to Devin Booker to end the Los Angeles Lakers’ seven-game winning streak with an emphatic 125-108 victory on the road. Booker exited in the first quarter, but the loss of the star point guard did little to halt the flow of Phoenix points over the remainder of the game. Dillon Brooks led the Phoenix scoring with 33 points, while Collin Gillespie added 28 — including eight three-pointers — as the Suns romped to victory. The Lakers were left ruing a colossal 22 turnovers — at a cost of 32 Suns points — on a
New Zealand yesterday reached 231-9 at stumps on a first day of the first Test against the West Indies shortened by rain after Justin Greaves triggered a middle-order collapse with the wicket of Kane Williamson. New Zealand tumbled from 94-1 to 148-6 on a bowler-friendly wicket after Williamson was dismissed for 52, his 38th Test half-century. Michael Bracewell and Nathan Smith arrested the slide with a 52-run stand for the seventh wicket. Smith eventually fell for 23 and Bracewell for 47. After Matt Henry went for 8, Zak Foulkes and Jacob Duffy were both on 4 when bad light stopped play after 70
Robin Smith, the batter who shone for England in a period when it was beaten regularly in Test cricket, has died. He was 62. Smith’s family said in a statement from the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) that he died unexpectedly at his home in Perth, Australia, on Monday. No cause was given. He played 62 Tests for England from 1988 to 1996, scoring 4,236 runs at an average of 43.67 with nine centuries. His signature shot was the square cut. Smith also played in 71 one-day internationals and was part of England’s squad who reached the 1992 ICC World Cup final. His unbeaten
SSC Napoli on Sunday joined AC Milan at the top of Serie A after winning 1-0 at title rivals AS Roma, as Inter kept pace with the leading pair by beating Pisa SC 2-0. David Neres stroked home the only goal of a feisty game in the 36th minute at the Stadio Olimpico, ending a blistering counterattack with a calm finish which put Napoli on 28 points. Napoli are behind Milan on goal-difference, and just one point ahead of both Roma and Inter in a tight scudetto battle in which Antonio Conte’s team are to host Juventus at the weekend. “To come to
RSS