“I forgot for a minute” - 3 times there was confusion at the toss in a cricket match

A bizarre moment took place at the toss for the second ODI between India and New Zealand at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium in Raipur on Saturday, January 21. Men in Blue captain skipper Rohit Sharma flipped the coin and Tom Latham called heads, but it came down as tails.

Over the next 10-15 seconds, there were some awkward scenes as Rohit kept Latham waiting over his decision. He had forgotten what India were going to do if they won the toss! Eventually, he managed to recollect and confirmed that they would bowl first.

Speaking to Ravi Shastri about the confusion on his mind, Rohit explained:

“I forgot for a minute because there is a lot of talk within the team group as to what we want to do and all of that. At the same time, we want to challenge ourselves under difficult conditions as well. For a minute I forgot, but we are going to bowl first."

This isn’t the first instance of there being some confusion at the toss ahead of a cricket match. In the wake of the Rohit incident, we revisit three previous times when something bizarre occurred at the toss.

#1 2011 World Cup final saw the toss being held twice

The 2011 World Cup final toss was held twice.

There was controversy ahead of the 2011 ODI World Cup final at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai as the toss had to be conducted twice. Match referee Jeff Crowe said he had not heard Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara's call, the first time.

Shastri, who was hosting the toss, said that the coin had come down as heads. He looked across at Crowe, who said, "I didn't hear it." Following some confusion, Crowe stated that the toss was null and void since he hadn’t heard the call.

MS Dhoni flipped the coin again, Sangakkara called it 'heads' and Sri Lanka won the toss. Replays suggested that Sangakkara had called heads, the first time as well. However, Dhoni thought he had heard tails. He even said to Shastri, "We'll bat”.

In an Instagram chat with Ravichandran Ashwin a couple of years back, Sangakkara opened up on the toss confusion during the 2011 World Cup final. He said

“I think it was the crowd, the crowd was huge. It never happens in Sri Lanka. It’s only happened in India to me, once at the Eden Gardens, when I couldn’t hear myself talk to the first slip and of course at the Wankhede [in Mumbai during the 2011 final].

“I remember calling on the toss, and then ‘Mahi’ [MS Dhoni, India’s captain] wasn’t sure what I had called. He said: ‘Did you call Tails?’, I said, ‘No, I called Heads’. And, then the match referee [Jeff Crowe] actually said I won the toss and Mahi said ‘No, no, no, he didn’t’.

“There was a little bit of confusion, and then Mahi said ‘Let’s have another toss of the coin’. And that’s when the second one went up and it came down Heads again so luckily…I am not sure if it was lucky that I won, because probably if I had lost, it may have been that India might have batted.”

India went on to win the final by six wickets as Dhoni led from the front with an unbeaten 91 off 79 balls.

#2 Babar Azam says tails, Ravi Shastri hears heads

Rohit Sharma flips the coin during the India-Pakistan Asia Cup 2022 clash.

There was a funny moment during the toss for the Super 4 match between India and Pakistan during the Asia Cup 2022. Rohit spun the coin and Pakistan skipper Babar Azam was clearly heard calling tails. However, Shastri said, “tails is the call”.

Match referee Andy Pycroft then confirmed with Babar what he had said. The confusion was then cleared, following which the Pakistan captain walked up to chat with Shastri.

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Pakistan opted to bowl first and conceded 181 for seven as Virat Kohli top-scored with 60 off 44 balls. Pakistan, however, chased down the target in the last over as Mohammad Rizwan top-scored with 71, while Mohammad Nawaz slammed 42 off only 20 balls.

#3 “I am not used to winning tosses” - Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli was ‘stunned’ after winning the toss during an IPL game. Pic: BCCI

Another hilarious incident took place at the toss ahead of an IPL 2021 match between Royal Challengers Banglore (RCB) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) at the Wankhede Stadium.

RR skipper Sanju Samson called tails after RCB captain Virat Kohli tossed the coin.

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It came down as heads, but for some reason Samson went up to host Ian Bishop, thinking he had won the toss. Kohli suddenly realized that he had won the toss and walked towards Bishop. Amid all the confusion, Kohli quipped:

“I am not used to winning tosses.”

RCB bowled first and restricted the Royals to 177/9. Devdutt Padikkal (101* off 52) and Virat Kohli (72* off 47) then starred in a dominating 10-wicket triumph for Bangalore.

Special mention Ft. Javed Miandad

In a video that went viral on social media, former Pakistan captain Javed Miandad is heard telling the host after winning the toss ahead of a game against Australia: