The Shubman Gill-led Indian cricket team walked into the high-stakes fifth and final Test against England at The Oval on Thursday, July 31, with plenty of hope and pressure riding on their shoulders. But just before the match began, something unexpected and quite funny happened during the toss.
Shubman Gill’s Toss Blunder Sparks Laughter
Shubman Gill had a light-hearted slip-up that instantly reminded fans of former captain Rohit Sharma’s well-known memory lapses. While revealing the playing XI, Gill said India had made three changes. However, the official team list later showed there were actually four.
Shubman Gill simply forgot to mention the fourth change, which was Akash Deep replacing Anshul Kamboj. Instead, he only named Dhruv Jurel, Karun Nair, and Prasidh Krishna as the players coming in for Rishabh Pant (injured), Shardul Thakur (left out after a poor run with the bat), and Jasprit Bumrah (rested to manage his workload).
At the toss, Shubman Gill said: “Don’t mind losing the toss as long as we win the game. Was a bit confused yesterday about what to do, was a bit overcast but the wicket looks good, we’ll look to post good runs in the first innings. Should be a good pitch for the bowlers. We’ve got three changes. Jurel, Karun and Prasidh in for Pant, Shardul and Bumrah. We look for a win every game we play, we’ve come close and it’s about that 5-10% extra push, boys will be giving it their all.”
Watch the viral video:
INDIA HAVE LOST THE 15 CONSERVATIVE TOSS IN INTERNATIONAL CRICKET.!!
– Captain Shubman Gill lost 5 in this series.!!
— MANU. (@IMManu_18) July 31, 2025
15 CONSECUTIVE TOSS LOSSES FOR INDIA. pic.twitter.com/4KmPS0Rj7s
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) July 31, 2025
Fans watching the toss couldn’t help but laugh and compare the moment to Rohit Sharma’s famous forgetful moments, from mixing up toss decisions to misplacing things like his passport or iPad. Now, it seems like Gill might be following in his footsteps, at least when it comes to these amusing little captaincy mix-ups.
Meanwhile, Shubman Gill has lost all five tosses in the current Test series against England. This also means India has now lost 15 tosses in a row across all formats of the game.
The fifth Test at The Oval was special for England too, as it was the first time Ollie Pope won a toss as captain.
Losing every toss in a five-match Test series is very rare. It has only happened 14 times in the history of cricket. The last time it happened in this century was when India toured England in 2018. Out of those 14 times, only one team has won the series after losing all the tosses, England, in the 1953 Ashes at home against Australia.
Also, England’s Chris Woakes and India’s Mohammed Siraj are the only fast bowlers who have played in all five matches of the ongoing Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy.
ALSO READ: PUBG 2025 Roadmap Leaks: Major Updates And Collabs
