Toss curse and dew danger looms large over India's Vizag decider against South Africa
Published - 06 Dec 2025, 11:06 AM | Updated - 06 Dec 2025, 11:07 AM
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India’s assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate admitted that the dew factor has been influencing the matches of the ongoing three-match ODI series against South Africa at home. India managed to win the Ranchi thriller but lost the Raipur high-scoring game as South Africa levelled the ODI series 1-1.
With the ongoing three-match ODI series now level at 1-1, the final match in Visakhapatnam on Saturday, December 6, has become a series decider, and yet again dew will play its massive role. However, to combat this issue, the Men in Blue are preparing in every aspect.
India hit by one-in-a-million toss curse as dew threat looms over Vizag decider
But what has made things harder is India’s unbelievable streak of bad luck at the toss, which has completely changed the way each match has played out. Ryan ten Doeschate admitted that the hosts are frustrated with this pattern, but that’s something that isn’t in their hands.
Notably, India losing twenty tosses in a row is something that statistically happens only once in a million scenarios, and the assistant coach joked that if they lose again in the series decider in Visakhapatnam, it would almost be like entering a two-million-to-one zone of bad luck.
Ryan ten Doeschate said at the pre-match press conference, as quoted by ESPNCricinfo, “The dew factor is we're actually trying to put a number on it, and it varies between 10 and 20% [in terms of] what a big difference it makes [to the result]. I think we're one in a million statistically at the moment [the probability of losing 20 straight tosses].”
India train with wet balls before crucial Vizag clash
The coach continued, “So, if we can go two million tomorrow, that'll be pretty impressive. But again, it's a bit of a joke, but the responsibility or the preparation is to beat whatever is put in front of us, and eventually we're going to win a toss anyway.”
He also revealed that the team is doing all the practical prep stuff behind the scenes to be ready for the dew in Visakhapatnam, like bowling with wet balls to understand how much the grip changes.
Ten Doeschate further explained, “Again, you know, like setting up our store to get a premium score, figuring out how to defend, and knowing what is best to bowl with the wet ball when there is dew on the grass.”
Ryan ten Doeschate highlights flaw in ODI’s new ball system
Meanwhile, ODI cricket has a new rule that has changed how bowlers and batters handle the game. Earlier, teams used two new balls—one from each end. But this made batting too easy because both balls stayed hard for a long time and were easier to hit even in the last overs.
To fix this issue, the ICC introduced a new rule from July. Now, after 34 overs, the bowling team must pick one of those two balls to use for the final 16 overs. Ryan ten Doeschate explained that the purpose of using only one ball is to let it get older, softer, and harder for batters to attack.
But this plan doesn’t work well when there is dew, and the Indian coach said that it is their responsibility to find ways to cope with these challenges and find a solution.
He signed off by saying, “The two balls. If I just think about it logically, the whole point of going to one ball after 34 overs is that the ball does get a chance to wear and to get a bit softer. But the flip side is that [when there is dew] you have got one ball that is getting more wet essentially. I think the umpires have been very good in allowing ball changes, but then of course you end up getting a slightly harder ball, which negates the whole point of going down to the one ball.”
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