India and the toss are not on the same page in all formats and for every captain. In the final game of the series, which has turned out to be the series decider, Harshit Rana looked very happy as captain KL Rahul won the toss after 20 matches.
India came into the South Africa ODI series with a poor toss record. Series leveled after South Africa’s win in final ODI in Raipur Visakhapatnam Became decisive for the series. Eventually he broke the illusion and won the toss as the stand-in captain tossed the coin with his left hand this time.
The last time India won the toss in the longer format of white-ball cricket was in the 2023 ICC ODI World Cup, when former captain Rohit Sharma won the toss against New Zealand at the Wankhede Stadium. Since then, neither Rohit, nor Shubman Gill nor KL Rahul have won the toss in ODIs after 20 matches.
Harshit Rana jumped and hugged Rishabh Pant after winning the toss in Visakhapatnam.
Stand-in Indian captain KL Rahul loses two more tosses as India head into the series decider VisakhapatnamComing to the final game, Rahul tossed the coin with his left hand and the coin fell in his favour,
He was looking extremely happy as he was smiling and then did a strange celebration which made his teammates and everyone else present on the field smile. After winning the toss, he announced the replacements in the Indian playing eleven.
But Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh and Rishabh Pant, who were then waiting for their captain’s signal on the results of the toss, were seen celebrating wholeheartedly. Harshit Rana looked the most excited and expressed his happiness by hugging Rishabh Pant.
Harshit Rana’s reaction after KL won the toss.pic.twitter.com/ReczDTxav3
– mutual.stark (@mutualstark) 6 December 2025
Despite winning the toss in Visakhapatnam, India look to take advantage of extra dew
Indian assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate also appeared concerned about the extra dew, which could impact play in the later innings. Even the Indian team was seen practicing with wet balls, so that their batsmen and bowlers could counter the effect of extra dew Visakhapatnam.
However, there was a change in India’s plans after KL Rahul won the toss. The Indian captain opted to bowl first immediately, as he may have felt that batting in those conditions would be easier than bowling, no matter how hard he practiced with the wet ball.
Murali Karthik gives information about India’s plans with the wet ball
Speaking from the commentary box, former Indian left-arm spinner Murali Karthik gave his opinion on the Indian team’s decision to play the ball at a ground which is likely to have the highest amount of dew compared to all the venues played in the series.
Excessive dew always means that bowlers are most likely to lose grip, and every time the ball hits the outfield, it will be further tampered with due to the dew that will cover the outfield.
Murali Karthik said, “I would prefer a dry ball with small boundaries over a wet ball and big boundaries any day.” “Obviously, the worst case scenario would be a wet ball with a short boundary,” the former spinner joked.
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