Gill has lost seven tosses in his eight Tests as captain so far.
Shubman Gill, who was appointed India’s Test captain ahead of the England tour earlier this year, continued to have hard luck with the coin flip on Friday (November 14).
While Gill had managed to break the toss losing streak after six games during the Delhi Test against West Indies last month, he lost another toss before the start of the first Test against versus South Africa in Kolkata.
Speaking to Ravi Shastri at the toss, Gill saw the funnier side of his rotten luck and cheekily said that the only toss he hopes to win is in the WTC final.
“I think the only toss that I'm going to win is hopefully in the WTC finals,” the Indian skipper said.
A fully recovered Rishabh Pant, who missed the West Indies series due to foot fracture, replaced all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy while Axar Patel returned to the playing XI, taking the place of Sai as India opted to go with four spinners.
“Looks like a good surface. Hopefully, we'll get some movement early, hopefully we're able to extract that. Dressing room is pretty amazing. This Test bunch is very hungry and is always determined to perform every time we come out.These two test matches for us are very crucial and we're as hungry as ever. Looks like a good surface. It's going to be a good surface for the first day or a couple of days. And then, hopefully, we'll get some turn as the game goes on. Rishabh comes back in place of Reddy since we last played. And Axar is also back in the side,” Gill added.
After winning the toss, South Africa skipper Temba Bavuma elected to bat first, citing that first innings runs is the key.
For the Proteas, star pacer Kagiso Rabada was ruled out due to a rib injury, with Corbin Bosch stepping in as his replacement.
“We will have a bat. The boys just came back from Pakistan. I was with the A team. From a preparation point of view, we've done as best as we can. It's not every day you get to play against 50,000-60,000 people in the stands. So, I'm looking forward to the challenge. Being back in India, it's always an eye-opener. Looking forward to everything. It's been sitting well at the moment (on being the World Test Champions). Hopefully, nothing really changes. For the performance point of view, work around with a lot more pride. But to keep doing what we've been doing. (On the pitch) It's on the dry side. Not much grass. It's a typical Indian wicket. First innings runs is the key. Rabada misses out due to a rib injury, Corbin Bosch comes in his place,” Bavuma said.
India (Playing XI): Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Washington Sundar, Shubman Gill(c), Rishabh Pant(w), Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj
South Africa (Playing XI): Aiden Markram, Ryan Rickelton, Wiaan Mulder, Temba Bavuma(c), Tony de Zorzi, Tristan Stubbs, Kyle Verreynne(w), Simon Harmer, Marco Jansen, Corbin Bosch, Keshav Maharaj