Toss in one of the most crucial aspects of the sport of cricket. The die-hard cricket fans would know that how much the result depends on the toss in a particular match. If the conditions are great for bowling up first, a team can gain the upper hand by winning the toss and electing to bowl first.
Similarly, sometimes the dew factor comes into the play during the ODI matches, which is why the teams prefer chasing. It is difficult to drip the ball later. Hence, captains prefer bowling first. It might not be wrong to say that winning the toss and deciding what they want to do makes winning a little easier for the teams. Of course, the team’s performance on-field performance matters a lot because winning the toss alone cannot help in winning the match.
But toss has its own importance in cricket, and today, we will look at the five Indian captains who have lost the toss for the most number of times in the history of Test cricket.
5. Kapil Dev – Lost toss 19 times
India’s first ever World Cup-winning captain Kapil Dev also led the team in the Test format. Luck did not favor him 19 times when he came out for the toss in Test matches.
Under Kapil Dev’s captaincy, India could win only one Test match after he called it wrong. 12 of the 19 Tests ended in a draw, whereas five resulted in India’s defeat and one ended in a tie.
4. Sunil Gavaskar – 25 times
Sunil Gavaskar is one of the few Test captains to have won more matches than losing despite calling the coin wrong. Gavaskar called the toss wrong 25 times while leading the Indian cricket team.
In those 25 matches, India recorded five wins and four defeats. 16 out of the 25 Test matches ended in a stalemate. Thus, one can say losing the toss did not impact Gavaskar’s team on most occasions.
3. Sourav Ganguly – 28 times
Another Indian Test captain to have won more matches than losing despite calling the coin toss wrong is Sourav Ganguly. The left-handed batsman played a vital role in Team India’s rise.
He lost the toss 28 times in his Test captaincy career, but India won 12 of those 28 Test matches. Nine of them ended in the opposition team’s favor, while seven ended in a draw.
2. MS Dhoni – 34 times
Regarded as one of the most best captains in cricket history, Mahendra Singh Dhoni has a 2:1 win ratio in Test matches where he called it wrong. Dhoni lost the toss 34 times in his Test career.
Interestingly, India won 18 out of those 34 games, having a win percentage of more than 50. Only nine ended in India’s defeat whereas seven ended in a stalemate.
1. Virat Kohli – Lost toss 35 times
Virat Kohli created a new record for losing the most tosses on August 4, 2021. When he came out with England captain Joe Root, Kohli called it wrong for the 35th time in his career.
Kohli has a 1:1 win ratio in Test matches where he called it wrong. India have won 14 matches and lost 14, whereas six of them resulted in a draw.
