India’s Toss Woes Continue as Gill’s Side Put in to Bat at The Oval

There’s an old saying — when life gives you lemons, make lemonade. But for Shubman Gill, it’s beginning to feel like the lemons just won’t stop coming at the toss. At The Oval, Gill lost yet another flip of the coin, his fifth straight in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, leaving India to bat first in the series decider.

The numbers are staggering. India have now lost 15 consecutive tosses in international cricket across formats. Considering each toss is a simple 50-50 chance, the odds of losing 15 in a row work out to 1 in 32,768, or just 0.003%. For Gill, it’s been a harsh initiation into captaincy. 

On the other side, Ollie Pope — leading England in Ben Stokes’ absence — finally got his first win at the toss in his fifth Test in charge. England had already made their intentions clear by naming their XI a day before. There were four big changes: captain Ben Stokes ruled out with a shoulder injury, while Jofra Archer, Liam Dawson, and Brydon Carse were also left out. 

For India, the toss drought goes back months. The last time the men’s team actually won one was in January, when Suryakumar Yadav called correctly in a T20I against England at Rajkot. Since then, it’s been a painful stretch — two T20Is, eight ODIs, and now five straight Tests without tasting success at the toss. 

Gill, though, wasn’t letting the disappointment show. Speaking at the toss, he said, “Don’t mind losing the toss as long as we win the game. I was a bit confused yesterday about what to do, it was a bit overcast, but the wicket looks good. We’ll look to post good runs in the first innings. It should be a good pitch for the bowlers.” 

India made three changes to their XI. Dhruv Jurel came in for the injured Rishabh Pant, Karun Nair slotted into the middle order, and Prasidh Krishna joined the pace attack, replacing Jasprit Bumrah and Shardul Thakur. Gill underlined the team’s intent: “We look for a win every game we play, we’ve come close, and it’s about that 5-10% extra push, boys will be giving it their all.” 

England, meanwhile, will look to make the most of their captain’s good fortune at the toss. With Stokes missing, Pope will lean on the likes of Joe Root, Zak Crawley, and Harry Brook to deliver with the bat, while Chris Woakes leads a new-look pace attack.