IND vs AUS 1st ODI: India's uncanny streak of bad luck at the toss continued as Shubman Gill lost in his debut as ODI captain in the opening ODI against Australia at the Optus Stadium in Perth on Sunday.
With this, India have now lost 16 consecutive tosses in ODIs - a new world record, surpassing the Netherlands' previous record of 11 tosses lost in succession between 2011 and 2013.
The streak began with the 2023 World Cup final in Ahmedabad against Australia and has astonishingly stretched across multiple series and two captains - Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul.
Since that final, India have lost all tosses in their ODI tours of South Africa (December 2023) and Sri Lanka (August 2024), as well as the home series against England earlier this year. Their last toss win came in the 2023 World Cup semifinal against New Zealand at Wankhede.
In Perth, Australian skipper Mitchell Marsh continued India's run of misfortune by opting to bowl first after winning the toss. Explaining his decision, Marsh said: "We're going to bowl first. It looks like a pretty good wicket, hopefully it's hard and fast. There's a little bit of moisture around, so hopefully we can make the most of that today. It's always a huge honour to captain the country, but to do it in front of a somewhat home crowd, it's always exciting. "
The Australian captain also spoke about his team's readiness, saying: "(Preparation) It's been great. The guys got in on Wednesday. We've had three great days of training. It's always a big build-up, Australia versus India and what's going to be a huge summer for Australian cricket. So, hopefully we can get off to a good start. (Morale) It's great. We've got some good young players, lots of power, so it's going to be hopefully exciting and entertaining. Seven batters, one keeper and four bowlers .. six batters? Anyway, I'm not good at maths. "
Indian skipper Shubman Gill, leading in ODIs for the first time, admitted he too would have preferred to bowl first. "I would have bowled first as well. Looking at the weather, there might be a stop-and-play game, but it looks like a pretty good surface, so hopefully we get some runs on the board. "
Gill confirmed that Nitish Reddy would make his debut, with India fielding three pacers and three all-rounders, aiming to make a strong start despite their luckless run at the toss.
At the time of writing this article, India were struggling for 25/3 after 8.1 overs with Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Shubman Gill back in the hut.
IND vs AUS Playing XI
India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill(c), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul(w), Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Harshit Rana, Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh.
Australia (Playing XI): Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh(c), Matthew Short, Josh Philippe(w), Matt Renshaw, Cooper Connolly, Mitchell Owen, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Ellis, Matthew Kuhnemann, Josh Hazlewood.
