The ODI toss woes for India continued in Raipur as skipper KL Rahul had yet another frustrating moment, losing the toss for the 20th consecutive time. Temba Bavuma once again benefited from the coin flip, extending a streak that has stretched for over two years. India’s last toss win in ODIs came way back on 15 November 2023, during the World Cup semi-final against New Zealand.
Rahul was visibly irritated after the result, walking away in dismay the very moment Bavuma made the right call. As was expected, South Africa chose to bowl first – just like they did in the previous game in Ranchi. During the toss, Ravi Shastri asked Rahul about India’s freakish run of bad fortune.
The captain said the biggest pressure he faced these days wasn’t over team selection or strategy, but simply in the attempt to win a toss, before adding that he had been “practicing” coming into this game.
“I think the biggest pressure today was the toss. We haven’t won one in a long time, so I’ve genuinely been practising flipping the coin, but clearly it’s still not working,” said Rahul.
But the statistical anomaly that is India’s streak is astounding. The chances of losing 20 tosses continuously stand at a near-impossible 0.000000954%. The rarity of it even moved former Bengal cricketer Shreevats Goswami to jest that India should avoid tosses altogether and let the opposition just make the call every time.
