Shubman Gill does a classic Rohit Sharma at toss, gives wrong team update at The Oval

The Shubman Gill-led India National Cricket Team walked into the all-important fifth and final Test against England at The Oval, with hopes high under massive pressure. But something unexpected—and unfamiliar—happened at the toss on Thursday, July 31.

Actually, Shubman Gill pulled off a classic blooper that instantly reminded fans of former skipper Rohit Sharma just minutes before the must-win game for India to level the ongoing five-match Test series against England. While announcing the playing XI, Gill said India had made three changes.

Shubman Gill's toss blunder reminds fans of Rohit Sharma's iconic memory lapses

But when the official list came out, it turned out that the touring side had made four changes, and the young Indian captain just forgot to mention the fourth change at the toss, and that was Akash Deep coming in back for Anshul Kamboj in the playing XI at The Oval.

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Instead, Gill mentioned only Dhruv Jurel, Karun Nair, and Prasidh Krishna as the replacements for the injured wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant, all-rounder Shardul Thakur, who was dropped after a series of failures with the bat, and Jasprit Bumrah, who was rested to manage his workload.

India made 4 changes, Shubman Gill mentioned 3 at The Oval

Shubman Gill said at the toss: “Don't mind losing the toss as long as we win the game. Was a bit confused yesterday about what to do, was a bit overcast but the wicket looks good, we'll look to post good runs in the first innings. Should be a good pitch for the bowlers. We've got three changes. Jurel, Karun and Prasidh in for Pant, Shardul and Bumrah. We look for a win every game we play, we've come close and it's about that 5-10% extra push, boys will be giving it their all.”

Fans watching the toss couldn’t help but laugh and draw comparisons with Rohit Sharma’s famous memory slips. From forgetting toss decisions several times to leaving behind passports and iPads, Rohit’s forgetfulness has long been famous among the fans. And now, it looks like Gill has also picked up this funny habit of Rohit after becoming the Test captain.

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India’s toss curse continues under Shubman Gill

Meanwhile, Shubman Gill lost all five tosses in the ongoing Test series against England. In fact, this marks the 15th toss loss in a row for the Indian cricket team across the formats. The ongoing Test match at The Oval was also the first time England’s Ollie Pope won the toss as captain.

Losing all five tosses in a five-match Test series has happened only 14 times in cricket history. The last time it happened in the 21st century was when India toured England in 2018. Out of those 14 times, only once did a team manage to win the series despite losing all the tosses, and England did that magic by winning the 1953 Ashes series at home against Australia.

Notably, England’s Chris Woakes and India’s Mohammed Siraj are the only fast bowlers who are playing all five matches in the ongoing Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy.