India’s luck with the toss continued to run dry with the Men in Blue losing their 15th coin flip in the ODIs in a row and skipper Rohit Sharma equalling a wretched world record in the final of the Champions Trophy. New Zealand’s Mitchell Santner called it right and opted to bat.
India’s wretched luck with tosses continued in the ongoing Champions Trophy as the skipper Rohit Sharma failed to win a single coin flip including in the final against New Zealand in Dubai on Sunday, March 9. This was India’s record-extending 15th straight toss lost in the ODIs and captain Rohit’s 12th, which is now equal to the most tosses lost by a captain in the format on the bounce. Rohit equalled Brian Lara’s wretched record, who lost 12 tosses from October 1998 to May 1999.
Losing tosses hasn’t affected or had a bearing on the results for India in the ongoing Champions Trophy with the Men in Blue winning all their four games so far and will hope for more of the same in the grand finale against New Zealand. New Zealand skipper Mitchell Santner called it right for the second consecutive time and opted to bat yet again.
Captains to lose most number of tosses in consecutive ODIs
Brian Lara (West Indies) – 12 (October 31, 1998 – May 21, 1999)
Rohit Sharma (India) – 12* (November 19, 2023 – March 9, 2025)
Peter Borren (Netherlands) – 11 (March 18, 2011 – August 27, 2013)
9 – Jos Buttler (England), Monank Patel (USA), Eoin Morgan (England), Nasser Hussain (England)
Santner reckoned that the pitch looked good, similar to the one they played on against India last Sunday and hoped that the scoreboard pressure would work in their favour. Rohit, on the other hand, wasn’t too bothered with the toss result and was ready to do both, irrespective of the result at the coin flip.
As far as the playing XIs were concerned, India went unchanged for the third match in a row while New Zealand had to make a forced change with bowling all-rounder Nathan Smith coming in for Matt Henry, who couldn’t pass the fitness test and was visibly distraught after learning that he won’t be able to play a part in the final. Henry suffered a shoulder injury while taking a diving catch in the semifinal against South Africa and even though he came to bowl in that game, he wasn’t match ready for this one.
