NEW DELHI: India's luck at the toss showed no improvement, as their agonising wait for a winning coin flip in ODIs continued. Indian captain Shubman Gill once again ended up on the losing side in the third ODI against Australia at the SCG, marking the 18th consecutive toss India has lost in ODIs.

Statistically, the probability of losing 18 tosses in a row is 1 in 262,144 (0.00038%).

The last time an Indian captain got to choose whether to bat or field was back in November 2023, during the World Cup semifinal in Mumbai against New Zealand.

Australia skipper Mitchell Marsh won the toss and elected to bat in the third and final match of the series. Australia made one change, bringing in Nathan Ellis in place of Xavier Bartlett.

Gill brought in wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav and Prasidh Krishna in place of pacer Arshdeep Singh and Nitish Kumar Reddy. Reddy missed the third ODI because of a left quadriceps injury.

"Nitish Kumar Reddy sustained a left quadriceps injury during the second ODI in Adelaide and was subsequently unavailable for selection for the third ODI. The BCCI Medical Team is monitoring him on a daily basis," said the team management in a statement.

India are 0-2 down in the series having lost in Perth and Adelaide.