NEW DELHI: India’s ODI captain KL Rahul finally broke his streak of 20 consecutive toss losses by winning the toss in the third ODI against South Africa in Visakhapatnam on Saturday. KL Rahul used his left hand to spin the coin despite being right-handed, which triggered celebrations among teammates and support staff.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!The probability of losing 20 tosses in a row was calculated at just 0.000095%, with India’s previous toss win dating back to the 2023 World Cup semi-final.
During this stretch, three captains – Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, and KL Rahul – had endured the drought.The rare toss win sparked animated reactions, with players like Harshit Rana celebrating on the sidelines, while Arshdeep Singh and Rishabh Pant joined the fun. It was also India’s first ODI toss win under coach Gautam Gambhir.KL Rahul was later seen demonstrating his left-handed toss method to bowling coach Morne Morkel.India made one change to their XI, bringing in Tilak Varma for Washington Sundar to bolster the batting lineup, with Varma’s part-time spin also considered an asset.India’s playing XI: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ruturaj Gaikwad, KL Rahul, Tilak Varma, Ravindra Jadeja, Harshit Rana, Prasidh Krishna, Arshdeep Singh, and Kuldeep Yadav.“We are going to bowl first. We trained here last night, there was dew and it didn’t come in early as Ranchi and Raipur. We want to chase the total and see how we can bowl first. Looks like a good wicket. We are really happy with the way we have played in the last two games. Considering the conditions, we have done well and there are a lot of positives to take. Not many things we are looking to change. One change. Washington misses out, Tilak comes in,” said KL Rahul at the toss.
