IND vs AUS 3rd ODI: Shubman Gill's captaincy stint in ODIs took an unusual turn at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) on Saturday (October 25), as India lost
their 18th consecutive toss in men's ODIs - an extraordinary and almost unbelievable streak in international cricket.
Gill called it wrong once again against Australia's stand-in skipper Mitchell Marsh, marking his third straight toss loss of the ongoing series. What makes the record truly mind-boggling is the probability - while a coin toss gives both captains a 50-50 chance, the odds of losing 18 tosses in a row are just 1 in 262,144, or roughly 0.00038%.
The streak began well before Gill's time. Former captain Rohit Sharma had endured a nightmarish run of 15 consecutive toss defeats, a sequence that extended right up to India's loss in the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy final against New Zealand in the UAE. That itself was a world record, but Gill's current run has stretched the gap even further. The next worst in men's ODIs is the Netherlands' 11 consecutive losses between 2011 and 2013 under Peter Borren.
Among individual captains, Rohit Sharma still holds the unwanted record with 15 toss losses, three more than Brian Lara's 12 between 1998 and 1999.
Despite the bizarre streak, Gill appeared unfazed after Marsh won the toss and chose to bat first in Sydney. "We would have bowled first. We got what we wanted. We had just enough runs on the board in the last match. You've got to take your chances. In the end, they played well," Gill said calmly at the toss.
India, already down 0-2 in the series, made two changes for the final ODI - pacer Prasidh Krishna replaced Arshdeep Singh, while Kuldeep Yadav came in for Nitish Rana to strengthen the bowling attack.
Though the toss luck continues to desert India, Gill's focus now remains on ending the series with a morale-boosting win before turning attention to the T20Is.
