Sydney, October 25 (Udaipur Kiran): Team India’s toss woes continued in the third ODI against Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground, as they lost the toss yet again — marking their 18th consecutive toss defeat in the ODI format. This unwanted record extends a streak that began nearly a year ago.

India last won a toss in an ODI on November 15, 2023, during the World Cup semifinal against New Zealand. Since then, the team has failed to win a single toss in the format.

The streak began when India lost the toss to Australia in the World Cup final held in Ahmedabad on November 19, 2023. Later, India lost all three tosses in the December 2023 bilateral series.

In 2024, India played only three ODIs — all during their Sri Lanka tour, where they not only lost the series but also lost all three tosses.

So far in 2025, India have played 11 ODIs, losing every toss — three against England, one each against Bangladesh and Pakistan, two against New Zealand, and four against Australia.

Despite losing the first two matches of the current series against Australia, India are now aiming to win the final ODI to salvage pride.

In the Sydney match, Australia won the toss and chose to bat first. India made two changes, bringing in Kuldeep Yadav and Prasidh Krishna in place of Arshdeep Singh and Nitish Reddy, while Nathan Ellis replaced Xavier Bartlett in the Australian lineup.

With ideal weather conditions — a maximum temperature of 24°C and no rain forecast — the Sydney Cricket Ground is expected to produce a high-scoring contest.

Australia had earlier defeated India by seven wickets (DLS method) in Perth and by two wickets in Adelaide, sealing the series ahead of the final match.