Dubai: In a surprising yet familiar turn of events, Indian captain Rohit Sharma lost his 12th consecutive toss in One Day Internationals (ODIs), equaling former West Indies skipper Brian Lara’s unwanted record. The streak continued in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 final against New Zealand, as Mitchell Santner called correctly and chose to bat first.
As the coin landed in Santner’s favor, Rohit could only offer a wry smile before stepping aside for the Kiwi captain’s interview with Ravi Shastri. India’s struggles with the toss extend even further, as the team has now lost 15 consecutive tosses in ODIs—the longest such streak for any nation in the format’s history. The Netherlands hold the second-worst record with 11 straight toss losses.
However, Rohit remained unfazed by the setback. “We’ve played enough here, batted first and bowled first, so it doesn’t really matter. Chasing gives us confidence and takes the toss out of the equation,” he said. “At the end of the day, it’s about how well you play, and that’s what we’ve spoken about in the dressing room.”
Meanwhile, New Zealand suffered a late blow as Matt Henry failed to clear a fitness test for his shoulder injury sustained in the semifinal against South Africa. Nathan Smith replaced him in the playing XI.
Match updates: At the end of 15 overs, Kuldeep Yadav has struck twice while Varun Chakravarthy has picked one wicket of New Zealand at Dubai International Cricket Stadium. Rachin Ravindra and Will Young stitched 57 for the opening wicket, the most runs against India in the ongoing tournament. Rohit Sharma and team made a remarkable comeback as Chakravarthy dismissed Young while Kuldeep removed Rachin and Williamson.
Milestone for Virat
Playing XIs
India: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, KL Rahul (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy.
New Zealand: Will Young, Rachin Ravindra, Kane Williamson, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Latham (wk), Glenn Phillips, Michael Bracewell, Mitchell Santner (c), Kyle Jamieson, William O’Rourke, Nathan Smith.
