India's Record of Consecutive Toss Losses in Cricket: On Thursday, at The Oval in London, Team India sustained their embarrassing world record against England in the fifth Test match. In fact, this marked the 15th occasion that Team India lost a toss at the Oval.
Imagine, India has now lost 15 tosses consecutively in international cricket. In the ongoing Test series against England, once again Alexander Pope, the acting captain, won the toss at The Oval in the fifth and final Test, deciding to bowl first.
The last time the Indian cricket team won a toss in international cricket was in January this year, during a T20 match against England at Rajkot under the captaincy of Suryakumar Yadav. India's misfortune with tosses continues across 2 T20 Internationals, 8 One Day Internationals, and 5 Test matches.
For this match-up, India has made four changes to their playing eleven, including substitutes Dhruv Jurel, Karun Nair, Aakashdeep, and Prasidh Krishna in place of injured Rishabh Pant, Shardul Thakur, Anshul Camboj, and Jasprit Bumrah.
The Indian cricket team continues to hold a world record that no team desires. Team India has lost 15 consecutive tosses between January 31, 2025, and July 23, 2025. This is the highest number of consecutive toss losses in men's international cricket history for any team.
In this embarrassing streak, captains Suryakumar Yadav, Rohit Sharma, and Shubman Gill have taken turns leading. Before this, the record was held by West Indies, who lost 12 tosses in a row in 1999. Ranked third is England, losing 11 tosses between December 2022 and March 2023, followed by New Zealand, losing 10 times consecutively in the 1972-73 period.
Shubman Gill's experience with the toss on this tour has been especially disappointing. From Leeds to The Oval, India has repeatedly lost the toss. Gill made his captaincy debut in Leeds but not only lost the toss but also suffered defeat in the match.
Despite losing the toss in Birmingham, Team India made a stellar comeback, winning by 336 runs and leveling the series 1-1. However, at Lords, India lost both the toss and the match, giving England a 2-1 series lead. In Manchester, though Gill lost the toss, Team India fought hard and safeguarded the Test match. It became clear that to keep the series alive at The Oval, Team India must clinch a victory.
