Something simple, yet very unusual from the perspective of India’s recent cricketing fortunes has transpired in the last few One Day Internationals (ODIs) that the Men in Blue have played.
This is them winning back-to-back coin tosses, the latest in today’s IND vs NZ match, marking an end to a brutal losing streak which began a little over two years ago.
More specificially, India have now secured two-straight ODI toss wins, bringing to an end a run of 20 consecutive losses that had started from the 2023 ICC World Cup final.
This losing streak was broken in the third and final India vs South Africa ODI, played this past December.
India’s ODI Toss Curse Explained
India’s run of bad luck at the toss in One Day Internationals turned into one of cricket’s strangest modern-day stories, stretching far beyond what anyone could have imagined.
What started as a single lost toss in the 2023 ICC World Cup final quietly snowballed into a nightmare streak that followed India across continents, captains and formats.
Over the next several months, India kept turning up for ODI matches only to hear the same result, the coin refusing to fall their way.
Series after series passed, and the number kept climbing until it reached a staggering 20 consecutive toss defeats, creating an unwanted record in international cricket. No men’s team had ever endured anything close to that before.
What made the run even more surreal was that leadership changes made no difference. Whether it was Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul or Shubman Gill walking out for the toss, the outcome stayed the same.
Despite often performing well on the field, India repeatedly found themselves forced to adapt to conditions they didn’t choose, batting first when they wanted to chase, or bowling first on flat pitches.
That’s why finally winning a toss against South Africa in the decisive fixture felt like more than a statistic, it felt like a jinx being lifted.
