WATCH: Vizag crowd roars as KL Rahul celebrates ending India’s toss drought

Team India's stand-in captain KL Rahul celebrated and punched the air as India ended their 21-match toss drought in the third ODI match against South Africa on Saturday, December 6.

New Delhi: Team India’s stand-in captain KL Rahul celebrated and punched the air as India ended their 21-match toss drought in the third ODI match against South Africa on Saturday, December 6. The crowd in Vizag was stunned before erupting in cheers, while the Indian players joined in the celebration following Rahul’s successful toss.

Rahul opted to bowl first and said, “Yeah, I think you (Murali Kartik) should do more tosses. We are looking to bowl first. A little bit, we trained here last night. There was dew but it didn’t come as soon as it did at Ranchi or Raipur. I don’t think it is going to play as much of a role as it did in the previous games. But yeah, we wanted to chase a total and see how we can bowl first,” said Rahul.

🚨 INDIA WON A TOSS IN ODI CRICKET. 🚨

– The celebration from captain KL Rahul. 🤣pic.twitter.com/Zca4HnYu3V

— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) December 6, 2025

The Indian players and even the commentators joined in the light-hearted moment. Harshit Rana and Arshdeep Singh were spotted celebrating, while Sanjay Bangar jokingly suggested that Rahul’s toss success came from flipping the coin with his left hand.

India last won a toss back in the 2023 World Cup semi-final

India had last won a toss back in the 2023 World Cup semi-final against New Zealand in Mumbai. In this series, the toss has played an important role, with dew heavily influencing conditions. Since batting second is generally easier under lights, Rahul wasted no time in opting to bowl first after finally winning the toss.

India made one change, bringing in Tilak Varma in place of Washington Sundar, while South Africa replaced injured Nandre Burger and Tony de Zorzi with Baartman and Ryan Rickelton

India’s playing XI -Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Tilak Varma, KL Rahul(w/c), Ravindra Jadeja, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna

South Africa’s playing XI– Ryan Rickelton, Quinton de Kock(w), Temba Bavuma(c), Matthew Breetzke, Aiden Markram, Dewald Brevis, Marco Jansen, Corbin Bosch, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi, Ottneil Baartman