NEW DELHI: As the India-England fourth Test got underway in Ahmedabad on Thursday, India captain Virat Kohli lost the toss for the third time in the series.
Winning a coin toss is entirely up to the luck factor and in not indicative of any shortcoming whatsoever.
Though in some games, depending on the weather and pitch conditions, winning the toss can give a team a slight advantage, the team that loses the toss can overcome that initial hiccup with some quality cricket.
Virat and team India under him in fact area great example of just that. The 32-year-old hasn’t had the best of luck over the years with the coin toss, but has superbly compensated for that with his incredible batting performances, leadership skills and great contributions from his teammates to put India on the top of the charts.
Kohli already is the most successful Test captain ever for India.
A quick look at how four of India’s best captains have fared when it comes to the coin toss, across formats, and their subsequent match win percentage makes for a very interesting read.
TimesofIndia.com dug up some numbers, comparing the toss and win records of four India captains who served as team leader for a long time – Md. Azharuddin, Sourav Ganguly, MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli:
Virat Kohli
When it comes to the longest format of the game, Virat Kohli has led team India in 59 games (excluding the ongoing fourth Test vs England) and has won the toss in 27 of those matches. But with a staggering 35 wins in those 59 games, Virat sits right at the top of the list of most successful Indian captains. With a success rate of 58.33, Kohli is way ahead of his predecessors.
In the ODI format, Kohli, since 2013 has captained in 92 matches, winning the toss on 40 occasions. But once again with 63 wins, Kohli’s win record in the 50-over format is over 68 percent.
In the shortest format of the game meanwhile, Kohli, since 2017, has led Team India in 40 matches where he has won the toss on just 17 occasions. However, the 32-year-old has tasted success on 24 occasions so far in the 40 matches he has represented India as captain.
Summing up the figures across formats, Kohli, so far has captained India in 191 matches and has managed to win the toss on 86 occasions, which adds up to a win percentage of just over 45.
MS Dhoni
One of India’s most successful captains ever, MS Dhoni added many feathers to his cap during his illustrious career, including a 50-over World Cup trophy, a T20-World Cup trophy, an ICC Champions Trophy and taking India to the numero uno spot in the Test rankings. In a magnificent career in which he served as captain for a decade, Dhoni had some terrific numbers as skipper. And to an extent luck also did favour ‘Captain Cool’ when it came to calling it right at the toss.
In the longest format, Dhoni captained Team India in 60 matches out of which he won 27 games. Out of the 60 tosses he was a part of, Dhoni won it 26 times.
In the ODI format, Dhoni still is India’s longest serving captain — 200 matches where he won 110 matches at a win percentage of 55. Out of the 200 tosses he was a part of in ODIs, he called it right on 97 occasions and had an opportunity to decide whether to bat or bowl first.
In the T20I format meanwhile, Dhoni was at the helm of affairs in 72 matches. He led India to a record 41 wins in those games. In the 72 T20Is, lady luck was on his side on 35 occasions on which he won the toss.
Overall in the 332 matches that Dhoni led the side across formats, the coin fell the way he wanted it to 158 times.

Sourav Ganguly
One of the greatest to have ever played the game, Sourav Ganguly was a remarkable leader, who played a big role, along with others, in laying the foundation on which Indian cricket stands today. A true leader, who made it a habit for India to win away from the sub-continent and gave his teammates the belief to be fearless, Ganguly was a hero during his reign as a captain.
In the 49 Tests that Ganguly represented the country as skipper in, Team India won 21 games. That’s a win percentage of 42.85. And as far as the toss record for Ganguly goes in the longest format, the coin landed in Dada’s favour on 21 occasions.
In the 146 ODIs that Ganguly was captain in, the team won 76 matches with a win percentage over 52. 74 times in 146 matches Ganguly called it right at the toss.
Overall, in the 195 Tests and ODIs that Ganguly represented India, the coin landed in his favour on 95 occasions.
Mohammad Azharuddin
A cricketing warrior whose career was marred by the match-fixing scandal in the 90s. But Mohammad Azharuddin was an icon in Indian cricket, who led India to some memorable wins in Tests and ODIs.
In the 99 Tests that Azhar played for India, he led the team on 47 occasions. Although with just 14 wins, Azhar’s win percentage was 29.78, he managed to win the toss on 29 of those 47 occasions.
Azhar is still second on the list of Indian captains who have led the ODI team the most number of times (174), behind only MS Dhoni (200). In those 174 games, Azhar led the team to 90 wins in the 50-over format, which made his win percentage 52.72. And out of the 174 matches as ODI captain, Azhar called it right at the toss on 96 occasions.
Summing up Azhar’s performance at the toss, there were 125 instances out of 273 total matches when the former India skipper was on the right side of the coin toss.