Follow UsIndia’s and Shubman Gill’s rotten luck with the coin toss continued in the first Test of the series between India and South Africa at Eden Gardens in Kolkata as well, as Proteas skipper Temba Bavuma won the toss and chose to bat first on a batting-friendly Day 1 surface.
Gill, rather comically, has now lost seven of the eight tosses as an Indian skipper. He lost all five tosses in England, one of the two against the West Indies at home, and now he has begun a new series with another loss at spinning the coin. Gill definitely sees the comic side and a silver lining in these probability-defying statistics and hopes that the rub of the green goes his way when (and if) India play the World Test Championship Final.
“I think the only toss that I'm going to win is hopefully in the WTC finals,” Gill said when asked about his toss losing streak.
He went on to add about the dressing room environment and the desire to win for this side, which, thankfully for the Indian skipper, isn't toss-dependent.
“Hopefully, we'll get some movement early, hopefully we're able to extract that,” Gill added on bowling first.
“The dressing room is pretty amazing. This Test bunch is very hungry and is always determined to perform every time we come out. These two test matches for us are very crucial, and we're as hungry as ever. Looks like a good surface. It's going to be a good surface for the first day or a couple of days. And then, hopefully, we'll get some turn as the game goes on. Rishabh comes back in place of Reddy since we last played. And Axar is also back in the side.”
Apart from the toss, the most notable thing this morning was how India have dropped young Sai Sudharsan despite him having a decent outing against West Indies after a lukewarm England tour. Axar Patel, a spin bowling all-rounder, is playing in his place, with Washington Sundar set to bat at number three in the side.
Amidst all the Playing XI changes and toss losses, what would ground Gill here is the fact that he is yet to lose a Test series as a skipper, and he would hope that record continues against South Africa as well at home.