india-vs-sri-lanka-2017

Updated: Sep 07, 2017 19:04 IST

It’s often heard before a cricket match gets underway that the toss might be the deciding factor on a certain day given the conditions, cracks on the pitch, dew factor and so on. And on Wednesday, Sri Lanka certainly regretted for not having won the toss as India opted to field first — just the way skipper Virat Kohli prefers it on most occasions.

But Sri Lanka may have actually won the toss.

Match presenter and former India spinner Murali Karthik had introduced the two captains, the toss representative and match referee Andy Pycroft at the toss ceremony with Kohli to call and Upul Tharanga to toss the coin. Kohli could be heard calling ‘heads’ before Pycroft walked up to the coin which had landed and seemed to say ‘tails, India’.

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Karthik, however said: “And it’s heads,” before inviting Kohli for the chat.

Well, if indeed the coin had landed with tail on top, the hosts should have won the toss.

Instead, Kohli sent them in to bat and despite them posing a modest 171-run target, India chased it down in 19.2 overs with seven wickets to spare. Rain had delayed the start of play and during the presentation, Kohli underlined the importance of winning the toss.

“Looks like a pretty good track. We’re going to bowl first though. We just want to chase a target. There’s a little bit of rain as well, which is coming in now. So, (in) a shortened game, it’s always good to bat second I guess,” Kohli said as Tharanga moved aside.

When Tharanga came over, he too admitted that he would have preferred to field first. “I would have bowled first here. It looks a bit damp and a bit difficult (track to bat on),” he said.

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What’s interesting, however, is that Pycroft seemed amused at the nonchalant manner in which Karthik turned towards Kohli before proceeding with the conversation. Pycroft certainly seemed convinced, and also took a few steps towards the duo but didn’t interfere.

However, whatever be the case, it’s just surprising that no one reacted to the misunderstanding — neither the two captains, nor the match referee.

However, this isn’t the first time that the toss has been controversial.

In an IPL encounter between Kings XI Punjab and Kolkata Knight Riders back in 2016, KKR captain Gautam Gambhir had flung the coin with KXIP skipper Murali Vijay calling ‘heads, as relayed by Ravi Shastri who was then the match presenter. However, despite match referee Amit Sharma stating that it was ‘tails’, the two captains seemed to chat a little before Vijay stepped forward to speak to Shastri, who himself seemed confused on seeing Vijay approach him. Nonetheless, he congratulated him and the ceremony went on!