India, July 31 -- Shubman Gill had a frustrating, resigned and inevitable look on his face when the coin landed in England's favour in the fifth and final Test of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy. It was Gill's fifth toss loss in a row. This was the 14th instance of a team losing all five tosses in a five-Test series; the only previous one in the 21st century came during India's tour of England in 2018. Former England captain Mike Atherton light-heartedly said former India head coach Ravi Shastri, who conducted all five tosses in the series, should take part of the blame for it.

Gill not winning a single toss in five attempts was not the end of India's woes. The Oval toss loss was India's 15th in a row across formats. The last toss that any...