At a talk show also featuring former Pakistan cricketers Bazid Khan and Rashid Latif, Mohammad Hafeez elaborated on a change he wanted to see at the World Cups.

“I was the captain of the 2012 T20 World Cup,” began Hafeez. “I had suggested the Tournament Director to avail the advantage of the Spider-Cam during the toss at the World Cup. The Spider-Cam should show the outcome when the coin landed for more clarity.

“Normally, when the coin spins, it goes five to ten metres away from you, and the captains are sitting out here. I am not casting aspersions on anyone’s credibility. I am not doubting anyone. But if you show the outcome, there will be more clarity for the fans, for the world.

“Now, only the match referee goes and picks up the coin. We have to take the referee’s words on whether it is head or tail.”

Spider cam technology should be used to show toss result #CWC23 #GamOnHai pic.twitter.com/hnaBRr3jaK

— Mohammad Hafeez (@MHafeez22) October 25, 2023

Earlier this week, Misbah-ul-Haq had explained on A Sports that the outcome of a toss for large coins is often the side facing upwards before they are flipped. “He just made it up,” a shocked Wasim Akram had responded.

Pakistan have played five matches at the 2023 World Cup. They lost the toss against the Netherlands, Sri Lanka, and India; they won the first two matches and lost the third. They then won the next two tosses, against Australia and Afghanistan, and lost both matches.

It is worth a mention that teams winning the toss have a win-loss ratio of 0.923 in 2023. Since the start of 2022, the number reads 1.05. In this decade, 1.07. In this millennium, 1.02. In ODI history, 1.01.

While toss sometimes gives an edge to teams, the advantage evens out over a large sample.