Dilip Vengsarkar wants the coin back in the air. The former India captain slammed the BCCI’s ongoing experiment of scrapping the toss in the Col CK Nayudu Trophy, demanding the board reintroduce the traditional ritual starting next season.
Cricket without a toss, according to the veteran selector and batsman, strips the game of an irreplaceable psychological battle. In May 2024, then BCCI secretary Jay Shah rolled out the mandate for the men’s Under-23 tournament ahead of the 2024-25 domestic campaign. The rule stripped home captains of the flip, handing visiting skippers an uncontested choice to bat or field first. Board administrators designed the measure to kill off rank turners and stop host associations from doctoring pitches to seal lopsided home victories. It was a historic first for Indian domestic cricket. Yet Vengsarkar believes the cure has created a worse ailment.
“It’s absolutely wrong to do away with the toss in U-23 matches,” Vengsarkar said, challenging the logic behind the policy. “The element of toss brings a different charm and excitement to a cricket match.”
Adaptability, he argued, remains the hallmark of top-flight cricket. Shielding budding cricketers from hostile conditions stunts tactical growth just when they should be learning to survive them. A visiting team cannot expect a manufactured reprieve at the international level.
“The wicket and conditions are the same for both teams,” Vengsarkar said. “If you play a balanced team, you can cope with any conditions. And what happens if you make a wicket to suit your strength, but lose the toss? A toss adds a different, but necessary dimension to a cricket game.”
He pointed out that the unpredictability of a toss often forces captains to think on their feet rather than rely on pre-cooked strategies. “Sometimes, when you are not sure about whether to bat or bowl first, it could be a good toss to lose,” he said. “The BCCI should reintroduce the toss in its U-23 tournament from the next season. There’s no question about it.”
The BCCI’s intervention mirrors an earlier English experiment. The England and Wales Cricket Board scrapped the mandatory toss in the County Championship between 2016 and 2019, giving visiting sides the option to bowl first if they disliked the strip. That experiment lasted four seasons before English authorities abandoned it in 2020, restoring the conventional coin toss after determining that pitch preparation had stabilized.
The Col CK Nayudu Trophy serves as the premier proving ground before cricketers transition to the Ranji Trophy and the national squad. Stripping that pipeline of real-game uncertainty could leave developmental squads ill-equipped for red-ball pressure. All eyes now turn to the BCCI technical committee ahead of the upcoming domestic scheduling window to see whether the board heeds Vengsarkar's call or doubles down on the visiting team advantage.