Australia vs India 2018-19, 4th Test: Kohli winning the toss and winning the match is directly proportional 

The Indian Captain Virat Kohli won an important toss for India in the fourth and final Test against Australia at Sydney and had no hesitation in electing to bat first. The Indian batsmen justified their captain’s decision to bat first and at the end of play on the first day, India is comfortably placed at 303 for 4.

For India, Cheteshwar Pujara made a brilliant hundred after coming to the wicket at the fall of K.L. Rahul’s wicket in the second over of the day. This is Pujara’s third hundred in the series. India had earlier won the two matches at Adelaide and Melbourne where Pujara had scored hundreds in the series.

Chateshwar Pujara scored his third hundred of the series at Sydney

Mayank Agarwal, playing only in his second Test match, once again impressed one and all with an aggressive inning of 77 with 7 fours and 2 sixes. His handling of the threat posed by Nathan Lyon was exceptional. After his brilliant show, Agarwal deserved a hundred. But after lifting Lyon for two sixes, Agarwal could not resist himself to go for one more and was caught at long-on.

At the close of play, Pujara is unbeaten on 130 and Hanuma Vihari on 39.

India leads the Border-Gavaskar series 2-1 and even a draw in the last Test match at Sydney would give them a historic series win in Australia for the first time. Kohli would aim to pile up the runs in the first innings and go for the kill after that. Like in Melbourne, here too Kohli might not enforce the follow-on if it comes to that as India would be keen to bat Australia out of the match.

Apart from the runs scored by India on the first day, the fact that Kohli had never lost a Test match whenever he had won the toss would be a comforting thought not only for the players but also for all the Indian fans all over the world. Kohli won the toss for the 22nd time in Sydney on his 46th Test as captain. On the earlier 21 times that Kohli had won the toss, India had won 18 matches and drawn 3. Going by that history, India should win the Sydney Test hands down.

It is quite natural for the touring teams to depend more upon the outcome of a coin toss to win an overseas Test match. Whatever little chance a touring team has of winning a match evaporates into thin air the moment they lose the toss.

In 2018, Kohli lost all the five tosses in England and India ended up losing 4 of those matches. In South Africa, he lost the toss in the first two matches and consequently lost the matches too. Kohli turned it around in the third Test when he managed to win the toss. In Australia too, India lost the second Test at Perth where Kohli lost the toss.

As such as India are strongly placed at 303 for 4 on Day 1 of the Sydney Test. Besides, India has reached this position in a match where Kohli has won the toss. It all adds up to only one thing - that India should go on to win the Sydney Test as Kohli winning the toss and India winning the match are directly proportional events. All the more reason for the Indian fans to rejoice in the New Year.