Shubman Gill, the captain of India, has been having terrible luck with the toss in the current Test series against England. Gill lost the toss for the fifth time in the series during the fifth Test, which was contested at The Oval. Ollie Pope, the England interim captain, then chose to bowl first.
This was noteworthy since it was the 15th time in a row that an Indian men’s captain has lost the toss in an international match. In a five-Test series, this was also the fourteenth time a team had lost all five tosses. In a Test series, Gill also became the fourth captain of India to lose all five tosses.
Shubman Gill will be hoping to lead the team to victory and end the series on a high note despite the coin toss’s unlucky outcome. Now let’s examine the other captains of India who have lost every toss in a five-Test series.
Kapil Dev lost all the tosses and also the series 0-2. Although he captained India in 34 Test matches during his career, his record was not very noteworthy. He only managed four victories, seven defeats, and twenty-two draws.
1. Shubman Gill
Shubman Gill lost the toss in the current Oval Test, making him the most recent addition to the undesirable list. In his first series as India’s Test captain, he did not win a single toss during the series.
To begin, England won the first Test in Leeds by a margin of five wickets. In the second Test in Birmingham, the visitors recovered with a commanding 336-run win. But England took the lead in the third Test at Lord’s, winning by 22 runs.
The hosts were ahead 2-1 after the fourth Test in Manchester finished in a tie. For both teams, the last Test thus becomes vital. Shubman Gill and company will strive for victory to tie the series, while England will aim for a victory to complete the series.
2. Virat Kohli
The last player to lose all five tosses in a Test series before Shubman Gill is former captain Virat Kohli, who is also on the list. He failed to win a single toss during India’s 2018 tour of England.
England in the first two tests bagged a win in Lord and in Birmingham. India next came up with their fight to win the third Test in Nottingham with a very large margin of 203 runs. But they lost the final two matches in Southampton and The Oval and the home team took the series 4-1.
Interestingly, Kohli is the most successful Test captain, India has ever had. In 68 matches played by him as the team leader he only won 40 matches which amount to 58.82 percent win percentage. India played only 17 of those games to lose and 11 were drawn under him.
3. Kapil Dev
Kapil Dev, the skipper of the 1983 World Cup, had poor tossing fortunes shortly before the big event. He lost all five of the series’ tosses during their 1982–1983 tour to the West Indies, with Clive Lloyd defeating his opponent.
The hosts won the inaugural Test match by four wickets at Sabina Park. At Port of Spain, India was able to draw the second Test. The third Test match in Georgetown’s Bourda ended in a tie as well. The final match in Antigua ended in a draw, but Clive Lloyd and his team went on to win the fourth Test match in Barbados by ten wickets.
4. Lala Amarnath
In 1948/49 when the West Indians travelled to India and played a 5-Test series, India captain Lala Amarnath lost all five on the toss. Captain John Goddard (then the West Indies captain) had the favor of the West Indies when it came to flips of the coin.
The first Test was drawn in the Arun Jaitley Stadium (formerly Feroz Shah Kotla), second Test in the Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai and the third Test was drawn in the Eden Gardens, Kolkata. Finally, West Indian spinners struck the third time with the final Test resultant, the West Indies won by an innings and 193 runs in Chennai. The draw of the fifth Test at Mumbai also gave the same result.
In terms of captaincy, Lala Amarnath captained India in 15 Test matches, winning two while losing six and drawing seven.
