Shubman Gill, leading India in the ongoing Test series against England, equalled an unwanted record on Thursday. At Kennington Oval, London, Gill lost his fifth consecutive toss—matching a rare feat last seen in 2018 when Virat Kohli lost all tosses in the five-match series under Joe Root’s captaincy. This marked the 14th instance in Test history of a captain losing all five tosses in a series. The last such occurrence? India’s 2018 tour to England—ironically, under Kohli himself. That series ended 4-1 in England’s favour. The funny part is that Gill was earlier asked if he would choose heads because he was losing it. In the fifth Test he finally called the heads instead of the tails, but the coin this time landed on the tails. India, now trailing 1-2 in the 2025 series, has also extended its toss-loss streak to 15 matches across formats. Toss Outcomes Rarely Favour Series-Winning Teams Historically, in the 14 series where teams lost all tosses: 9 series resulted in defeat 3 ended in draws Only 1 was won – by England in the 1953 Ashes Result Instances Loss 9 Draw 3 Win 1 At the Oval, the toss itself has developed a pattern. The last seven captains, including Ollie Pope, have all chosen to bowl first—a decision mirrored in 22 consecutive first-class games at the venue since 2022. Read also: Watch: Josh Tongue’s Beauty Sends Sai Sudharsan Packing Day 1 match summary at London India ended Day 1 at 204/6 after being put in to bat by England under cloudy skies. The visitors struggled early, losing Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, and captain Shubman Gill within the first 30 overs. Sai Sudharsan showed some resistance with a gritty 38 before falling to a peach from Josh Tongue, who finished with two wickets alongside Gus Atkinson. Karun Nair, who had been struggling in the series throughout, held India’s innings together with a composed unbeaten 52, supported by Washington Sundar on 19*