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Indian captain Rohit Sharma equalled legendary West Indies batter Brian Lara's record for most consecutive toss losses in the ODI format. Rohit lost his 12th consecutive toss, a streak that started during ODI World Cup 2023.
Rohit went past former Netherlands captain Peter Borren who lost 11 tosses from March 2011 to August 2013. Lara lost 12 tosses from October 1998 to May 1999.
It is to be noted that Lara lost the toss in Champions Trophy 1998 final against South Africa. West Indies lost to Hansie Cronje-led South Africa by four wickets.
Overall, this is the 15th consecutive toss losses for India in ODIs. KL Rahul was captain in South Africa and lost all three tosses in the ODI series.
As Rohit lost the toss for a record-equalling time, New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner opted to bat first in the final. Rohit did not make any changes to the winning combination and went with the spin quartet. He also had no issues chasing the target against the Kiwis, especially after the win against Australia in the semifinal.
"We've been here enough, batted first and bowled first, don't really mind batting second. It hasn't changed much, we've chased and won as well. It does give you a lot of confidence, takes the toss away from the game. At the end of the day, what matters is how well you want to play. That's what we've spoken about in the dressing room, not to worry about the toss and to just play well, that's what we've done and we have to do today as well. New Zealand have been a very good team over the past so many years, they tend to play good cricket in ICC tournaments. The challenge for us is to play well against them now. Same team for us," Rohit said at the coin toss.
Earlier, former Indian cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin had hoped that Rohit loses the toss in the final.
"In my opinion, India shouldn't aim to win the toss. I'd say let them lose it, allowing New Zealand to choose what they want to do. It could put India in a tricky spot. All in all, India would be comfortable either way since they've successfully defended and chased before," Ashwin said on his YouTube channel 'Ash Ki Baat'.
India's Playing XI for the Champions Trophy 2025 final
Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, KL Rahul(w), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy
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