India’s stand-in ODI skipper KL Rahul let out what seemed to be a visible sigh of relief after winning the toss during the third match of the ongoing series against South Africa. The Men in Blue had lost 20 ODI tosses till this game at the ACA-VDCA Stadium in Visakhapatnam.
Temba Bavuma called ‘Tails’ as Rahul spun the coin. However, the coin fell on the opposite side. A hilarious interaction ensued between toss presenter Murali Karthik and Rahul, with the latter jokingly asking Karthik to be there more frequently for India’s tosses. Karthik also revealed that he was the toss presenter the last time India won the toss in the red-ball format.
Batting first in the opener (Ranchi) as well as in Raipur, India decided to field in Cuttack’s series decider on Saturday, December 6. Rahul said he wanted to take into account the likelihood of dew before doing so. The home side, meanwhile, had one change to their XI and Temba Bavuma revealed his franchise made “two changes” to the team.
Interestingly, India has not won a single ODI toss since the 2023 World Cup semi-finals. Their unlucky run came off from the summit clash of the major tournament in Ahmedabad, which they lost to Australia after reaching there undefeated.
🚨 INDIA WON A TOSS IN ODI CRICKET. 🚨
– The celebration from captain KL Rahul. 🤣pic.twitter.com/Zca4HnYu3V
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) December 6, 2025In the ongoing series, India won the opening match by 17 runs, but South Africa fought back to claim a four-wicket victory and level the series. While India edged the first game in Ranchi, South Africa impressed in Raipur by chasing down a mammoth total of 359.
The ODI leg will be followed by five T20Is to complete the all-format schedule.
