India’s captain KL Rahul won the toss and chose to bowl against South Africa in the third and final ODI held in Visakhapatnam on Saturday, breaking a 20-match losing streak in tosses.
The last time India triumphed in a toss during an ODI was in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 semi-final against New Zealand at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
Rahul, however, attributed the toss victory to former Indian spinner Murali Kartik, as luck finally favored the team. During the toss on Saturday, Kartik reminded Rahul that he was present when India last won a toss in international cricket before this match.
“Is it me or is it you?” Kartik questioned Rahul.
“It’s you. I think you should do more tosses,” Rahul acknowledged.
“I suppose so because the last time when Shubman Gill won it, I was the toss presenter,” the former left-arm spinner added.
The event Kartik referenced was when Shubman Gill won the toss in the 2nd Test against the West Indies in Delhi earlier this year.
This marked his first and only toss win as the captain of the Indian Test team, having lost the previous six Tests he led.
With the series level at 1-1, India made one adjustment to the lineup that lost the second ODI in Raipur, bringing in Tilak Varma to replace all-rounder Washington Sundar.
South Africa, facing injuries to key players Nandre Burger and Tony de Zorzi, have included Ryan Rickelton and Ottneil Baartman as their replacements.
Burger and de Zorzi are sidelined for a couple of weeks. Burger felt discomfort in his right hamstring during the last match, while de Zorzi experienced pain in the same area while batting.
Playing XIs
India: Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Tilak Varma, KL Rahul(w/c), Ravindra Jadeja, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna
South Africa: Ryan Rickelton, Quinton de Kock(w), Temba Bavuma(c), Matthew Breetzke, Aiden Markram, Dewald Brevis, Marco Jansen, Corbin Bosch, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi, Ottneil Baartman