Australia's tour to India in 2001 is part of Team India's cricket folklore. The Indian team led by their legendary captain Sourav Ganguly fought from a Test down to clinch the three-match series 2-1. It changed the world's perception of the Indian team being pushovers.
Along with V.V.S Laxman's 281, Rahul Dravid's 180 and Harbhajan Singh's hat-trick, what lingers on in the minds of Indian cricket fans is how Ganguly “got under the skin” of his counterpart Steve Waugh by arriving late for the toss.
Waugh thought it showed “a lack of respect” for the game. Dada, as Ganguly is fondly called, revealed in his autobiography A century is not enough that the first time it was unintentional—he had forgot his blazer. But when he saw that it was irritating Waugh, he did it deliberately the next time!
Toss has always been an integral part of cricket, ever since the first Test in 1877 between Australia and England at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. The sight of the two captains walking out with the match referee, the customary handshake, the toss of the coin, the call from one of the captains, all eyes of the coin as it flips several times before landing on the ground, and the decision to bat or bowl first... it's a tradition that is part of cricketing pysche. The toss affects Tests more, possibly because of the longer duration which allows the conditions to have a greater say on the outcome of the game.
And now, as part of a bid to revamp the five-day format, the ICC is mulling over scrapping the coin toss for matches played as part of the Test Championship, which will start in 2019 with Australia’s Ashes tour to England.
Statistician David Franklin's piece in The Nightwatchman—The Wisden First Quarterly gives an interesting insight into the influence of a toss on a Test match. “Of the 1,397 matches that have produced a winner, 737 of those (53 per cent) were won by the team winning the toss, and 660 (47 per cent) by the team losing it,” he writes.
Franklin goes on to say that, since 1970, captains who have won the toss and bowled first have won 179 games and lost just 150. Captains who have won the toss and batted first have won 319 games and lost 318. He proposed a sealed bid (in terms of runs) to be submitted to the match referee by both the captains. “The captain with the higher figure may choose whether to bat or to field first, but the number of runs he submits will be added to the opponent’s score.”
Complicated? Here's another one, which is being followed in part in English County Championship since 2016. The visiting captain is given the choice to bowl first. If he accepts, well and good. If not, the good ol' toss follows. The results are evident: 85 per cent of matches, reportedly, went into a fourth day compared to 74 per cent in 2015—the highest percentage since 2009.
What former Australian skipper Ricky Ponting and former coach Darren Lehmann advocate—and what was backed by other greats of the game like Michael Holding, Steve Waugh and Ian Botham—is far simpler. Let the visiting side choose whether they want to bat or bowl. It will encourage the host nation to prepare sporting pitches that is fair to both the teams. It will lessen the home advantage considerably.
However, not everybody is enthused by the idea of doing away with the toss.
Former India captain Bishan Singh told a leading Indian daily, "I'm actually at a loss to make any sense. First of all, why would you even want to tinker with a century-long tradition?"
Another former Indian great, Dilip Vengsarkar, said he was disappointed by the frequent tinkering with playing conditions."If this is only about home team's interference in pitch preparation then just introduce neutral curators," he told the same daily. "Have a panel of neutral curators just the way the ICC has an elite panel of umpires and match referees.
"Why do away with a tradition that just not adds to the charm of cricket but gives both participating teams an equal opportunity to rise to the contest," Vengsarkar asked.
Former Pakistan captain Asif Iqbal concurred. "I am not in favour of scrapping the toss," he told a Pakistani daily. "Every visiting team will also be hosting tours and be having the home advantage. To be the best and top team in the world ranking, you need to win both at home and more importantly away from home.
"The elements of surprise, doubts and knowledge would be taken away if the toss was discontinued,” Iqbal said.
A decision will be taken when the ICC cricket committee meets in Mumbai later this month.
(With inputs from agencies)