In an extraordinary example of bad luck, India lost the toss at the start of their fourth Test against England on Wednesday – marking their 14th straight lost toss. Per England Cricket’s X/Twitter account: “The odds of that happening are 16,384/1.” England captain Ben Stokes won the toss against India counterpart Shubman Gill, before electing to bowl first at Old Trafford. Yet the hosts may now be in for some bad luck of their own, according to another remarkable stat. The Times noted that in 85 Test matches at Old Trafford, no team has won after electing to bowl first. Stokes and his team will naturally back themselves to break that run, however, and they carry a 2-1 series lead into the fourth Test. The home side won the first match at Headingley, before India hit back at Edgbaston. The third Test then played out at Lord’s, while the fourth is scheduled for 23 to 27 July in Manchester. KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal opened the batting for India on Wednesday (23 July), looking to make a strong start in their bid to level what has been an entertaining series. The third Test in particular proved dramatic, not only due to the action on the pitch but also verbal exchanges between players on each team. Gill told England batter Zak Crawley to “grow some f***ing balls” in one moment, before accusing England of breaching the “spirit” of cricket on Tuesday (22 July), as he looked back on the hosts’ slow over rate in the third match. England were fined and docked two ICC World Championship points for that over rate.