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In a rare incident in Indian cricket, in the Ranji Trophy 2026-27 match between Jammu & Kashmir and Vidarbha, the toss took place twice. A toss twice in a match is not a regular event in cricket. However, because of an error, the toss took place twice in the Ranji match.
According to a Kashmir Sports Watch report, there was a mistake in the team sheet submitted by the Jammu & Kashmir team management. A player's name was reportedly mentioned twice in the sheet. Therefore, according to the norms for multi-day format matches, the umpire tossed the coin for the second time.
Toss twice in Ranji Trophy 2026-27 match
J&K won the toss at the first attempt, and they elected to field first. After the first toss, the error in their team sheet came to light. The Vidharbha team management noticed the error in the team sheet and informed the captain. After informing the mistake to the Vidharbha skipper, the toss for the second time took place. This time, Vidharbha won the toss, and they too decided to bowl first.
Two tosses in a single match have happened before in Indian cricket. During the Qualifier 2 match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) between the Gujarat Titans and Rajasthan Royals, the toss was conducted twice. Because of the noise, the match referee failed to hear the captain's call properly. Therefore, there was another toss after the first.
Why was there a second toss in the Jammu & Kashmir vs Vidarbha match?
The same incident took place during the 2011 World Cup final between India and Sri Lanka, as the match referee, Jeff Crowe, did not hear Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara’s call properly. But the incident that forced the toss to be conducted twice in the J&K vs Vidarbha match in the Ranji Trophy was unique.
According to the rules for the multi-day matches, if any team wants to make any changes in the playing eleven, then the team will have to have the consent of the opposing team captain.
"No player (member of the playing eleven) may be changed after the nomination without the consent of the opposing captain", Clause 1.2.1 of the BCCI’s Men’s Multi-day Playing Conditions reads.
Bowlers ruled the match in the second innings
Talking about the match, Vidarbha won the contest by 3 wickets. It was a low-scoring game at the Sher-e-Kashmir Cricket Stadium in Srinagar, where the second innings was mostly dominated by the bowlers. For Jammu & Kashmir, Sunil Kumar took 4 wickets in the first innings and then got four more in the second. For Vidarbha, Nachiket Bhute got 8 wickets in the match as the bowlers clinched three in the first and five wickets in the second innings.
The target was 79 for Vidarbha to win the match. They surpassed the required total, losing seven wickets. Harsh Dubey remained 22 not out, playing forty balls to confirm the contest for the team.
In the first innings, Vidarbha opener Ravikumar Samarth scored most of the runs for his team. He claimed 143 runs off 202 balls. Alongside the bowling, that knock by Samarth fixed the direction of the match.
