Stand-in captain KL Rahul finally ended India’s bad luck during the toss in the third and final ODI against South Africa at the ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam, breaking the streak of 20 consecutive toss defeats.
The last time the Indian cricket team won the toss in ODI was in the 2023 World Cup semi-final against New Zealand at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Since that match, Indian captains including Shubman Gill, Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul have lost 20 consecutive tosses.
KL Rahul breaks India’s 20-toss curse with joyous celebration in Visakhapatnam
As soon as the coin showed tails, KL Rahul could not hide his relief. The Indian captain had an awkward celebration which made everyone around him, including the match officials, commentators and his teammates in Visakhapatnam, laugh.
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South Africa captain Temba Bavuma had called heads, but the coin fell the other way, and it almost felt as if India had won a mini-match before the three-match ODI series decider had even started. Rahul looked really happy, and he didn’t waste a moment in deciding to bowl first.
pic.twitter.com/bIed5oMqvF Funny side of KL Rahul#KLRahul #INDvsSA
– klr/aa (@klr_aa) 6 December 2025
India won the toss after decades and see the joy on KL Rahul’s face#INDvsSApic.twitter.com/wCOGHM9pvO
– Natasha (@heyyNatashuu) 6 December 2025
India won the toss in ODI cricket.
– Celebration of captain KL Rahul.pic.twitter.com/Zca4HnYu3V
– Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) 6 December 2025
Washington Sundar replaces Tilak Verma for the deciding match of the ODI series.
India made one change to their playing eleven, dropping struggling all-rounder Washington Sundar to make way for young, explosive batsman Tilak Verma for the ODI series decider against the Proteas.
India’s stand-in captain also explained why he decided to bowl first in Visakhapatnam. Rahul said he checked the conditions during training last night and the crews saw some dew, but not as much as in Ranchi or Raipur, so they wanted to try to make a rescue attempt later. He believes that the pitch is looking good and expects it to remain fair throughout the match.
India XI: Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Tilak Verma, KL Rahul (captain/wicketkeeper), Ravindra Jadeja, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna
What did KL Rahul say on the toss?
KL Rahul said at the toss, “Rahul: We will bowl. We trained here last night and the reaction from the coaches was that there was dew, but it did not come early like in Ranchi and Raipur. We were obviously planning to bowl second keeping in mind our track record. I don’t think it is going to play such a big role like in Raipur and Ranchi.”
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But, we just want to change the total score and see how we can bowl first. Yes, it looks a good wicket. We just need to be consistent in what we are doing and stay consistent with that process. We know there will be results. There aren’t a lot of things we’re looking to change. Just trying to sharpen some things on the field and the results will go our way.
Temba Bavuma eyes strong start as injuries force major changes in ODI series decider
Temba Bavuma, on the other hand, said that he too would have liked to bowl first, but now his focus is on starting strong and scoring good enough to challenge India in the series decider. Bavuma said his team will do everything possible to finish with a win.
The South Africa captain confirmed two changes to his playing eleven, with Ryan Rickelton and Otniel Baartman coming in after Andre Berger and Tony De Zorzi were ruled out of the final ODI due to injuries. Bavuma said that this match is a big opportunity for the pair to perform well.
Temba Bavuma said at the toss, “A good start will set it up for the middle order; we will try and put a competitive score on the board and then hopefully defend it. It’s been entertaining, hasn’t it? From the red ball to the white ball now. The crowd has come out, and I’m sure they will be in favor of the Indian side. Today is another important day, and as always, we will try our best to make sure we are on the right side of the result.”
South Africa XI: Ryan Rickelton, Quinton de Kock (wk), Temba Bavuma (c), Matthew Britzke, Aiden Markram, Dewald Brewis, Marco Johnson, Corbin Bosch, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi, Otniel Bartman.
