5 goof-ups that have happened during the toss

In the game of cricket, the toss is one of the important factors for teams. In the T20 World Cup 2021, the toss played an important role in the outcome of the games. Of 11 matches played in the T20 World Cup in the UAE, 7 were bagged by the team that had luck on their side during the toss. Taking the 2021 event as an instance, one could say that no skipper wishes to have bad fortune when toss becomes the boss. However, sometimes, it has been witnessed that controversies erupt during the toss. In 2012, a bizarre incident happened when the then-India skipper Anjum Chopra and Australia captain Jodie Fields participated in the toss conducted five minutes before the scheduled time. Things looked weirder as the event happened without the match referee Anjali Pendharkar. Similarly, there have been a few more incidents when the toss time hit headlines due to some confusing acts of captains. Five times when controversies marred the toss 1. Meg Lanning-Stafanie Taylor 2017 World Cup incident In the 2017 Women’s World Cup in England and Wales, Australia were looking to kick off their journey with a victory against the West Indies. On County Ground, Taunton, the skippers of both teams Meg Lanning and Stafanie Taylor walked out for the toss with the match referee David Jukes. The coin tossed by Lanning fell into Taylor’s favour but the Caribbean captain created an ugly scene during the event as she contradicted herself while making a choice. When asked about her decision after emerging victorious during the coin toss, Lanning informed Jukes and others that the Caribbeans will bat first. But when the television host Ian Bishop asked her, she said that her team will bowl first. Witnessing her counterpart’s confusion, Lanning got involved in a heated argument with Taylor. Eventually, the match referee entered the scene and it was ruled that the Windies skipper will have to go ahead with her decision of batting first. 2. Rohit Sharma’s confusion during Ind vs Nz 2022-23 second ODI at Raipur In the first-ever international game hosted at Raipur, India skipper Rohit Sharma and New Zealand captain Tom Latham went on the field for the toss. As the Indian skipper flipped the coin, Latham called ‘heads’. The coin, however, favoured India, and the match referee Javagal Srinath asked skipper Sharma about his decision. Reacting to the question, the 35-year-old took a moment of pause as he forgot whether India will bat or first. This brain-fade moment of the Indian captain left the match referee Srinath and the Kiwi skipper Tom Latham in splits. However, Sharma later decided to bowl first and admitted that he had plenty of discussions with his team about the coin toss. 3. Javed Miandad’s 1981 incident Javed Miandad was familiar with controversies during his playing days. However, the former Pakistan skipper also entertained cricket lovers a lot with his antics. In the 1992 World Cup, Miandad and the former India wicketkeeper-batter Kiran More got involved in a heated banter and delivered some hilarious moments to supporters of the game. Back in 1981, Pakistan toured Australia for a three-match Test series. As Miandad was holding the reins of the Pakistan team, he came out for the toss in the first Test match at the iconic Western Australia Cricket Australia (WACA) Ground, Perth. At the toss, luck favoured Pakistan as Miandad won the toss. However, things got funny when the presentor asked the Pakistan skipper what he’s gonna do and Miandad replied to him saying ‘I don’t know, I will just go inside and let you know’. 4. Sourav Ganguly-Steve Waugh 2001 Test series toss chapter In the early 2000s, Australia was the dominating side in Tests under Steve Waugh. On the other side, the Indian team was full of energy under Sourav Ganguly. In February-March 2001, the Aussies toured India for three Tests and five One-Day Internationals. In the three-match Test series, the young Indian side hammered the Aussies by a 2-1 margin. With 32 wickets in the series, Harbhajan Singh became a household name. The then-Indian skipper Ganguly too received appreciation for his phenomenal leadership skills. For the Steve Waugh-led Australian team, the series came out as a disappointment as they missed the chance to pull off a Test series in India after 32 years despite winning the first Test at the Wankhede Stadium comfortably. In the series, Waugh also gained headlines for getting annoyed at Ganguly for appearing late at the toss. In 2020, however, Ganguly had a conversation with the Indian batter Mayank Agarwal and explained his side of the story. The former India skipper said that it was an accident as he left his blazer in the dressing room. 5. 2011 World Cup Final: Toss conducted twice due to confusion On April 2, 2011, India and Sri Lanka clashed against each other in the 2011 World Cup final at the iconic Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Thrilled to see the Men in Blue in the final game of the marquee event, the loud crowd in Mumbai displayed its energy with cheers. Before the start of the game, the captains of both teams MS Dhoni (India) and Kumara Sangakkara (Sri Lanka) gathered on the field for the toss. The former Indian skipper got the opportunity to spin the coin and it had come down as ‘heads’. Convening the toss, the match referee Jeff Crowe also didn’t look confident as he couldn't hear the Sri Lanka captain's call. The confusion led to the nullification of the toss, however, the replays showed that Sangakkara had called heads. During all this scene, Dhoni felt that he heard 'tails' and was also seen saying to the host Ravi Shastri "We will bat". However, leaving the incident behind, Dhoni spun the coin again, and this time too, Sangakkara called ‘heads’ and Sri Lanka won the toss. Dhoni might have lost the toss, but the match is still remembered by the cricket fans for the match-winning knock of unbeaten 91 he played to see his side lift the World Cup that year. For a better experience: Download the CricTracker app from the IOS App Store and Google Play Store

Topics

Featured Section

Current Series

IPL 2025 Auction

IPL Teams

Cricket Fantasy Tips

Cricket Stats

ICC Rankings

Interviews

Twitter Reactions

Cricket Appeal

Social Tracker

More Links

# Follow Us

Other Sports

5 goof-ups that have happened during the toss

Here are five instances when the toss grabbed the attention due to strange reasons

2. Rohit Sharma’s confusion during Ind vs Nz 2022-23 second ODI at Raipur

Latest Articles

December 22, Morning Brief: Today's top news and headlines

PM Narendra Modi thanks R Ashwin for his contributions

BCB announces salary hike and more for Bangladesh Women