India have slipped further into an unusual and unwanted record in men's ODI cricket, having now lost 19 tosses in a row - a streak that began with the 2023 World Cup final in Ahmedabad.

What initially seemed like a minor run of bad luck has now turned into a statistical anomaly, drawing attention each time India walk out for a limited-overs game.

This remarkable streak has pushed India far beyond the previous record for most consecutive toss defeats in ODIs.

The earlier longest run belonged to the Netherlands, who lost 11 straight ODI tosses between March 2011 and August 2013. India’s continued misfortune has now surpassed that figure by a significant margin.

While toss outcomes do not necessarily determine match results, the consistency of India’s toss losses has become a talking point among fans and analysts. With each game, the expectation grows stronger: can India finally break the streak in their next ODI, or will the sequence continue to stretch even further?

For now, India remain firmly at the top of this unusual statistical chart - one they would be eager to step away from at the earliest opportunity.

South Africa (Playing XI): Ryan Rickelton, Quinton de Kock(w), Aiden Markram(c), Matthew Breetzke, Tony de Zorzi, Dewald Brevis, Marco Jansen, Corbin Bosch, Prenelan Subrayen, Nandre Burger, Ottneil Baartman.

India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Washington Sundar, KL Rahul(w/c), Ravindra Jadeja, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna.

KL Rahul: We would have bowled first as well. The preparation has been good, the energy is there with a lot of players coming back, we want to enjoy ourselves in the middle. That's what the chat has been, we need to use every opportunity we get in the ODI team, this is a great chance to challenge our skills against a very good team. Three spinners and three quicks for us today.