Harshit Rana goes crazy, bear-hugs Rishabh Pant wildly after KL Rahul finally wins a toss

India and tosses have not been on the same page across all formats and for every captain. Coming into the final game of the series, which has become a series decider, Harshit Rana looked overjoyed as skipper KL Rahul won the toss after 20 matches.

India came into the South Africa ODI series with a disastrous record in tosses. With the series leveled after South Africa's win in Raipur, the final ODI in Visakhapatnam went on to become a decider for the series. They have finally broken the jinx and won a toss as the stand-in skipper flipped the coin with his left hand this time.

The last time India had won a toss in the longer format of white-ball cricket was back in the 2023 ICC ODI World Cup, when former captain Rohit Sharma won the toss against New Zealand at the Wankhede Stadium. Ever since then, neither Rohit nor Shubman Gill nor even KL Rahul had won a toss in ODIs after 20 appearances.

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Harshit Rana leaps and hugs Rishabh Pant after the toss win at Visakhapatnam

KL Rahul, the stand-in Indian skipper, lost two more tosses as India went into the series decider in Visakhapatnam. Coming into the final game, Rahul flipped the coin with his left hand, and the coin fell in his favour.

He looked in uncontrollable joy as he giggled and followed it with a funny little celebration, which left his teammates and all others on the ground smiling. Having won the toss, he went on to declare the replacement in the Indian playing XI.

But Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, and Rishabh Pant, who were then on the sidelines waiting for their captain's signal on the toss results, were seen celebrating wholeheartedly. Harshit Rana looked the most excited of the lot as he hugged Rishabh Pant, expressing his happiness.

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India are looking to capitalize on the excess dew despite the toss win in Visakhapatnam

Indian assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate also looked worried about the excess dew that might have an impact on the game later in the innings. Even the Indian team were seen practicing with wet balls, so that their batters and bowlers could counter the effect of excess dew in Visakhapatnam.

However, India surely had a change of plans, as KL Rahul won the toss. The Indian skipper immediately opted to bowl first, as they might have felt batting under those conditions would be easier than bowling, however hard they might have practised with the wet ball.

Murali Kartik gives insights into India's plans with a wet ball

While speaking from the commentary box, former Indian left-arm spinner Murali Kartik dropped his opinion on the Indian team's decision to have a go with the ball in the ground, which is likely to receive the highest amount of dew among all venues they have played in the series.

Excess dew always implies that the bowlers are most likely to lose the grip, and every time the ball makes it to the outfield, it will be further tampered with by the dew that will be covering the outfield.

"I would prefer a dry ball with short boundaries any day over a wet ball and large boundaries," said Murali Karthik. "Obviously, the worst would be a wet ball with a short boundary," joked the former spinner.

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