India have had a rotten luck in terms of winning the toss in ODI cricket. The IND vs SA 2nd ODI marks the 20th consecutive match that the Men in Blue have not won the coin flip. The run extends to the World Cup Final in 2023, with Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill and KL Rahul all falling prey to the curse.
While coin tosses are a 50-50 chance in theory, India's luck with them have nosedived at an alarming rate. The Men in Blue have not wo the toss in two calendar years and despite having 3 different captains in that time frame.
Kl Rahul in fact addresses India's luck at the toss, sheepishly admitting he had more pressure to win the toss.
"Honestly, that's the most pressure I've had because we haven't won a toss in a long time. I've been practising, but clearly it's not working," he told Ravi Shastri.
The last time India won the toss was on November 15, 2023 when they faced off against New Zealand in Dharamshala in the World Cup semi-finals. Rahul himself has lost 5 straight coin tosses, adding to India's misery with the coin flip.
As for the game, India retained their same XI, meaning there was no place yet for Rishabh Pant in the side. Ruturaj Gaikwad continues to bat at No.4, with Jaiswal partnering Rohit Sharma at the top. Proteas made three changes, with Bavuma returning alongside Keshav Maharaj and Lungi Ngidi.
Fans saw the funny side of India's streak, as they broke all realms of probability. Former KKR star Shreevats Goswami, who played U19 cricket with Virat Kohli, joked that India could simply avoid the toss and save time.
Here's how India fans saw the fun side of things
Playing XIs:
South Africa: Aiden Markram, Quinton de Kock (wk), Temba Bavuma (capt), Matthew Breetzke, Tony de Zorzi, Dewald Brevis, Marco Jansen, Corbin Bosch, Keshav Maharaj, Nandre Burger, Lungi Ngidi.
India: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Washington Sundar, KL Rahul (wk/capt), Ravindra Jadeja, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna.
