- August 1, 2025
When it comes to the toss, it’s just luck – but when you lose five in a row, people start asking questions. Here, Shubman Gill – India captain in his first Test series – is finding himself on the wrong side of history. Five Tests. Five toss losses. This is the kind of thing that feels cursed. But now here is the twist: he isn’t on his own. Gill is now part of a strange yet elite club of Indian captains to go 0 for 5 in tosses over a Test series.
The Toss Curse Continues: Shubman Gill Joins the Club
Let’s kick this thing off with the man of the hour—Shubman Gill. Young, talented, and leading India here in a challenging series in England. However, Gill has already lost something before a single ball was bowled in any of the five Tests: the toss. Every single one.
Here at The Oval, it was the fifth lost toss, formally enshrining his name in the “0/5 Toss Club.” England’s stand-in captain, Ollie Pope, called it right yet again and decided to bowl first. At this stage, it wasn’t just unluckiness; it was history. Gill is now only the fourth Indian captain to lose all five tosses in a five-match Test series, and with the current series scoreline at 2-1 in England’s favour going into the final Test, it was a high better pick.
Flashback Files: Kohli, Kapil & Lala’s Toss Woes
Gill isn’t the first to suffer the wrath of the coin. Let’s rewind.
Our favourite nostalgic hero, Virat Kohli, also lost his fair share of tosses when India toured England in 2018. What a ‘flipfest’ it was – from coin to action. To illustrate, Kohli’s team lost all five tosses on his Test tour of England. Kohli’s team battled valiantly, even claiming a win in Nottingham before succumbing to that ever-present foe, English rain, losing the five-Test series 4-1.
Kapil Dev, the 1983 World Cup hero, was something like that during the 1982/83 West Indies tour. Five tosses, none won. Clive Lloyd was lucky every single time. The West Indies won the series 2-0. Kapil, an all-rounder and everywhere in every circumstance he performed, could not even win the tosses.
And then an even further example was Lala Amarnath, our first Test captain post-independence! when the West Indies toured India in 1948/49. John Goddard won all five tosses & India won one match, & the rest were four draws, losing the series. How unlucky was Lala? At least he was not without form!
Each of these captains had different styles, different eras, but the same quirky misfortune.
Tosses Don’t Win Matches… Or Do They?
It’s easy to dismiss the toss as just superstition or random chance—but let’s be honest, it matters. Especially in a place like England, where conditions flip faster than a Virat Kohli cover drive. Overcast skies? You want to bowl first. Sunny pitch on Day 4? You’d have preferred to bat first.
In Gill’s case, not winning a single toss in your first Test series as captain isn’t just frustrating—it’s tactical disadvantage after disadvantage. Yet, credit to the team for fighting back, especially with that 336-run win in the second Test.
Still, when you’re constantly forced into Plan B before the game starts, it wears on you. Strategies shift. Morale gets tested. And leadership under pressure? It becomes trial by fire.
So, here’s a question for you: If tosses are just luck, why do they feel like destiny in Test cricket?
