Shubman Gill becomes 4th Indian captain to lose 5 consecutive toss

LONDON: India’s Test captain Shubman Gill etched an unwanted record on Thursday as his team lost the toss yet again – their 15th consecutive toss defeat across all formats – before the final Test of the five-match series against England at The Oval.

Gill, leading India in the absence of Rohit Sharma, walked out for the toss with England’s stand-in captain Ollie Pope. But the luck of the coin continued to elude him, marking the fifth straight toss loss under his captaincy in this series.

With this, India have now lost 15 consecutive tosses across formats, including two T20s, eight ODIs, and five Test matches. This is an unprecedented streak in India’s cricketing history.

It’s also the 14th instance in India’s Test history where the team has lost the toss in five successive matches. The last time this happened against England was in 2018.

England make early double strike in India series decider

Interestingly, both Gill and Pope had gone winless in their four tosses as captains before this match. But Pope finally broke his streak, winning the toss in this fifth Test, while Gill remained winless.

As for the series, England currently lead 2-1 after winning the first and third Tests. India bounced back with a 336-run victory in the second Test, while the fourth match ended in a draw. A win in the final Test is crucial for India to level the series.

Shubman Gill loses wicket early

On the rain-hit first day of the final, only six overs were bowled between lunch and tea but that was enough for visiting captain Shubman Gill to throw away his wicket with a crazy run-out to swing the series further in the home side’s favour.

A heavy shower that caught out the ground staff created more difficult conditions for the tourists in a delayed afternoon session.

However, it was not good bowling but great fielding – combined with suicidal running – that brought Gill’s innings to an unexpectedly premature end for 21.

The captain, who had looked unmovable while notching four centuries in the previous four matches, inexplicably set off for a non-existent single and was run out by three yards as bowler Atkinson had time to transfer the ball to his right hand before throwing down the stumps.

Gill had started the day with all sorts of records in his sights but achieved only a couple as his tally of 743 took him beyond West Indies’ Garfield Sobers (722 in 1966) as the highest-scoring visiting captain and also moved him into the top nine for the most runs scored in a series in England – either for or against the hosts.

Of more significance was the dismissal’s potential impact on India’s hopes of saving the series as the two men who had contributed more than 1,200 of their runs between them were back in the dressing room with only 83 on the board.

Gill’s moment of madness seemed even more bizarre given the state of the game on Thursday when quick singles were the last thing India needed.