The notion of balance between bat and ball in a T20 contest is like logic in a Bollywood potboiler. It simply isn’t there.

Particularly on flat pitches and small grounds, ubiquitous as they are in this part of the world, a T20 game turning into a six-hitting duel can be a run-of-the-mill occurrence. It is more a reflection of the reality than a condemnation of the shortest format, for it would be disingenuous to expect equilibrium between bat and ball from a genre that was designed to feed the onlookers’ ostensible thirst for fours and sixes from its very inception in 2003.

Australia has the legacy. India has the recency. And New Zealand has the consistency.

That is one way to sum up performances at ICC limited-overs World Cups in the last decade. Since 2015, Sunday (March 8, 2026) will mark the fifth time New Zealand’s men feature in the final of a global tournament — a testament to their sustained excellence across formats.

Yet captain Mitchell Santner knows that the team often dubbed the “nicest guys” in world cricket will have to break a billion hearts if they are to lift the Men’s T20 World Cup trophy on Sunday (March 8) night.

For Santner, the choice is straightforward. “I wouldn’t mind winning a trophy,” Santner said at a crowded media conference at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Saturday (March 7, 2026), on the eve of the final. “You look at this group and the groups that have been in the past and we are pretty consistent in our thoughts. We try not to get ruled by the situation or the opponents. We just go out there and do our thing as a unit.

“It’s been no different this time. Everyone knows we are probably not the favourites, but we don’t mind that. If we do the little things well and put in a strong team performance, it can put us in a good position to hopefully lift the trophy. But yeah, I wouldn’t mind breaking a few hearts to do that.”

India, meanwhile, have been nearly invincible in ICC tournaments of late. In their last 33 matches across global events, the hosts have lost only twice — the 2023 ODI World Cup final against Australia and the Super Eight clash against South Africa last month. Both defeats came at this very venue.

Australia captain Pat Cummins’ famous “silence the crowd” remark had echoed through the stadium in the 2023 ODI World Cup title-decider here. Santner, too, believes handling the atmosphere will again be key. “I guess that’s the goal — to silence the crowd,” Santner said.

“There are a lot of variables in T20 cricket. It’s fickle at times. We’ve seen throughout this World Cup that teams are very evenly matched. It often comes down to a few small moments that change the outcome.”

Santner also pointed to the pressure on the hosts. “There is obviously a lot of pressure on India to win this World Cup at home. If we don’t win, it would be pretty cool to win a home World Cup. That comes with added pressure, so we can go out there and try to put that pressure on them and see what happens.”

For New Zealand, the final also carries recent context. The two sides met in a five-match T20I series in India just before the tournament — a contest India dominated 4-1. Santner believes the lessons from that series have helped the Black Caps during the World Cup.

“In terms of planning and execution, it was a great series. We were challenged a lot of times,” Santner said. “You build on what works and what doesn’t and take that information forward.

“We obviously played on five pretty good surfaces around India. I’m not sure what it’s going to play like here, but I assure you it’s going to be pretty good. Guys will take good conversations from that series into this game. But a World Cup final is a little bit different to a bilateral series.”

A Suryakumar Yadav press conference can feel a lot like watching him bat. Just when you think the line of questioning is predictable, he pulls out something unexpected. A quip here, a smirk there; it is 360-degree box office.

So, when asked for a reaction to New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner’s ‘the goal is to silence the crowd’ remark on the eve of the T20 World Cup final, Suryakumar said: “Why does everyone keep copy-pasting the same line? They need to come up with something new.”

Of course, he was referring to Pat Cummins, the charismatic Australian skipper, who had kept his word back in 2023, his side crushing Indian spirits in the final of the 2023 ODI World Cup.

Abhishek Sharma and India’s captain Suryakumar Yadav during the practice session ahead of the ICC T20 World Cup Final Match between India and New Zealand at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on March 7, 2026.
| Photo Credit:
Emmanual Yogini

Now a new-look squad has taken up the challenge to flip the script during Sunday’s showdown at the Narendra Modi Stadium here. Even as the battle lines are firmly drawn in a completely different format, Suryakumar plays it cool.

“The camp is very relaxed. It’s a special feeling to lead such a wonderful side at home, and that too at such a wonderful stadium,” he said. Somewhere deep inside, he knows there are concerns. Especially those surrounding the forms of his prized World No. 1s — Abhishek Sharma and Varun Chakaravarthy.

While Abhishek’s lean patch has wrecked India’s run-bank — the southpaw has managed to score only 89 in seven games at an average of 12.71 —Varun has been struggling since the start of the Super Eight. The spinner’s economy rate shot up to 11.62 in the last four games; it was a miserly 5.16 earlier.

However, if you were to take Suryakumar’s word for it, he isn’t worried. “We won the match (against England) eventually, and that happens when everyone is putting in a collective effort. If we are winning games, we don’t worry about such things. Everyone goes through ups and downs. It is not possible for all 11 players to have a good day at the office. Varun is well aware of how he can step up.”

A major talking point through India’s campaign has been the chatter surrounding its left-handed batters and their underwhelming stats against off-spin. The said match-up has seen 11 dismissals.

Suryakumar said: “We never discussed it. If we played at a strike rate of 120 (113.69, to be accurate) and are still in the final, I don’t mind. It is important to bat according to the situation and requirement”.

Sitanshu Kotak always put a heavy price on his wicket. Saurashtra’s doughty southpaw was a domestic giant. Never aesthetic in his approach, Kotak always made effective runs. Now in his role as the Indian team’s batting coach, he draws satisfaction from the way his wards perform.

He couldn’t stop smiling late on Sunday (March 1, 2026) night after Sanju Samson’s unbeaten 97 took India past the West Indies in the ICC T20 World Cup clash at the Eden Gardens. “Sanju is such a class player. He batted really well. Truly a match-winning innings. Everybody knew that Sanju will perform,” Kotak told the media.

The batting coach admitted that some technical adjustments were made while Samson evolved: “He felt he was getting ready a little early. Sanju does two to three different things. We have been talking from the England series, about the short balls he got out to. All that we discussed.”

Through his knock, Samson looked assured, and Kotak explained: “The special feature about this innings was that it was completely under control. That’s what you expect from someone like Sanju who is so experienced. He has scored so many runs in internationals, in the IPL. In a way, he has been a leader. So, that’s what you expect from someone like him.”

Kotak also praised Tilak Varma: “Tilak is very flexible. He never talks about the batting order. If you want him to open, he is ready. Number three, he really enjoys. Now, with the situation of having three left-handers in a row, he knew that the batting order was changing for that reason. Obviously, Surya, we won’t change, so Tilak goes in at five. He understands that. Though he is aggressive, he plays according to the merit of the ball. He doesn’t blindly slog the ball.”

The template of posting massive runs and capitalising on the resultant scoreboard pressure on the rival was executed to a nicety as India owned the night. The host’s cause was also helped by Zimbabwe’s decision to field on winning the toss.

Follow the highlights India vs Zimbabwe

At a raucous M.A. Chidambaram Stadium, the defending champion prevailed over Sikandar Raza’s men by 72 runs in the ICC T20 World Cup Super Eight Group 1 match here on Thursday (February 26, 2026). India’s 256 for four proved too high a peak, and Zimbabwe finished with 184 for six.

Openers Brian Bennett and Tadiwanashe Marumani consolidated initially, and after the latter was dismissed by Axar Patel, the former shifted gears. The left-arm spinner was clattered past and over the ropes but Varun Chakaravarthy prised out Dion Myers.

Brutal assault

The visitors, though, leant on Bennett (97 n.o.) and he reached his fifty, clouting Jasprit Bumrah for six. He was brutal on Shivam Dube in an over that cost 26 runs. Raza allied with Bennett for a while, before Arshdeep Singh grabbed three wickets, and India stayed dominant.

Earlier, the crowd rooted for Sanju Samson, the latest recruit of the Chennai Super Kings, and Abhishek Sharma too had his fans. The openers set a frenzied pace with Samson hoisting Richard Ngavara. Blessing Muzarabani too suffered the same fate as Samson galloped.

Meanwhile, Abhishek drilled Tinotenda Maposa past covers, and then lofted high.

However, Samson found his pull finding the fielder in the deep. India already had 48 in 3.4 overs, and immediately, southpaws Abhishek and Ishan Kishan forged a partnership yielding 72 from 42 deliveries.

The Men in Blue were on the ascendancy, and hearteningly for them, Abhishek (55) found his mojo. There was a sliver of luck when Kishan was dropped on 26 as Tashinga Musekiwa failed to hold on.

A relieved Kishan hit Raza for a four and a six, and then edged the spinner and retreated.

Suryakumar Yadav strode in and shuffled around for his scoops. Dropped on eight by Muzarabani, the skipper watched Abhishek leave, but the merry streak continued as Hardik Pandya (50 n.o.) sauntered in.

The all-rounder launched Ryan Burl into the skies, and after Suryakumar departed, Tilak Varma lit up the skies with luminous shots. There was power and disdain as the left-hander waded into the rival attack and India’s firm grip on the contest never wavered despite Bennett’s lone-warrior act.

Matt Henry silenced a full house at the R. Premadasa Stadium on Wednesday (February 25, 2026) when he breached Pathum Nissanka’s gate with a nip-backer and castled him off the first ball of Sri Lanka’s chase of 169.

Also Read | T20 World Cup: Including Samson in the mix has been discussed: Kotak

The host never really recovered from the morale-crushing fall of its in-form batter and eventually crashed out of the T20 World Cup with a 61-run loss to New Zealand, its second straight defeat in the Super Eight.

After Sri Lanka lost two early wickets, Kusal Mendis and Pavan Rathnayake attempted a recovery .But the end of their laborious 21-run third-wicket partnership off 36 balls sent Sri Lanka into a free fall.

The twin dismissals helped Rachin Ravindra achieve career-best figures of four for 27, with Dasun Shanaka and Dushan Hemantha also becoming his victims .Kamindu Mendis’ reverse sweeps off Ish Sodhi and Cole McConchie came too late to really swing the contest back in Sri Lanka’s favour.

He eventually pulled a half-tracker from Mitchell Santner to deep midwicket and departed for a 23-ball 31 as Sri Lanka ended at just 107 for eight.

The game slipped from Sri Lanka’s grasp in the last four overs of the first innings, where it leaked 70 runs to the unfancied pair of Santner (47, 26b, 2×4 , 4×6) and McConchie (31 n.o., 23b, 3×4, 2×6) .Their seventh-wicket partnership got New Zealand 84 off 47 balls, salvaging it from a precarious 84 for six.

Sri Lanka’s capitulation was unexpected after its spinners controlled the tempo of the New Zealand innings .Maheesh Theekshana and Dunith Wellalage extracted grip and turn to bring the Kiwis crashing from 75 for two to 84 for six. But they had little inkling that Santner and McConchie were about to break free and cast a pall over their evening.

The scores: New Zealand 168/7 in 20 overs (Rachin Ravindra 32, Mitchell Santner 47, Luke McConchie 31 n.o., Maheesh Theekshana 3/30, Dushmantha Chameera 3/38) bt Sri Lanka 107/8 in 20 overs (Kamindu Mendis 31, Matt Henry 2/3, Rachin Ravindra 4/27). Toss: Sri Lanka; PoM: Rachin.

Harry Brook fancied a promotion to No. 3 and struck a superb century (100, 51b, 10×4, 4×6) to drag England to a two-wicket win over Pakistan in their T20 World Cup Super Eight match at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium on Tuesday (February 24, 2026).

Brook became the first captain to notch up a ton in the history of the tournament, ensuring his team was not left to rue the three wickets it lost in the PowerPlay. England got to the 165-run target with five balls to spare and sealed its place in the semifinals.

Standing tall

Walking in after Phil Salt was caught behind off Shaheen Afridi off the first ball of the innings, Brook added 41 of the 53 runs in the first six overs and was unfazed despite a flurry of wickets.

He picked 17 off Shadab Khan in the 11th over, which included a heave into the sightscreen and two boundaries with a sweep and a slog sweep.

By the time Brook lofted successive deliveries over covers off Afridi in the 17th over to bring up a 50-ball hundred, and perished one delivery later to the same bowler, the result was merely a formality.

England, though, had to survive a few anxious moments to register its second successive win in the Super Eight. Pakistan, on the other hand, has just a solitary point from two games and is staring at elimination.

That Pakistan was in the game at the innings break was again down to Sahibzada Farhan’s single-handed effort. He negotiated the skiddy bounce of Jofra Archer, launching him over point with a slash before riding the bounce inside his crease to pummel through midwicket.

Taking note of the crashing tempo after a 23-ball boundary drought, Farhan and Fakhar Zaman provided timely momentum by taking 27 off Will Jacks’s two overs.

Vital strike

Farhan’s impending change in gears was averted by Jamie Overton, who pinned him in front off a full-length delivery.

Usman Khan and Mohammad Nawaz perished to blind slogging against Liam Dawson, starting a slump that brought Pakistan crashing from 146 for five to 149 for eight.

Shadab’s 11-ball 23 saw that Pakistan lasted the full 20 overs and got to 164 for nine, but in the end that was not enough.

The scores: Pakistan 164/9 in 20 overs (Sahibzada Farhan 63, Jofra Archer 2/32, Jamie Overton 2/26, Liam Dawson 3/24) lost to England 166/8 in 19.1 overs (Harry Brook 100, Shaheen Afridi 4/30, Mohammad Nawaz 2/26, Usman Tariq 2/31).

Toss: Pakistan; PoM: Brook.

India’s bowling coach Morne Morkel stressed that there had been no discussion about Abhishek Sharma’s wretched run in the T20 World Cup so far.

Abhishek is yet to open his account in the tournament, and during Friday’s (February 20, 2026) training, the opener was seen spending considerable time with head coach Gautam Gambhir. The southpaw, who has been dismissed for a duck thrice, could face another big test when India takes on South Africa in its first Super Eight match at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday (February 22, 2026).

When asked if there has been talk within the team about Abhishek’s poor form, Morkel denied emphatically.

“Absolutely, no discussion. He is a world-class player. So far in the tournament, luckily, there have been some guys standing up for Abhishek (others scoring runs),” Morkel said.

Morkel, however, agreed that Abhishek needs to score runs as the tournament enters its business end. “But we are going through a very important phase of the World Cup now and we expect him to do well. I am pretty sure, not only for the team but also for all the viewers watching the game.

“Because Abhishek is entertaining, and we love to see that.

“I am sure that he is hitting the ball well. It is just a matter of getting that start; he will get going after that,” Morkel said.

The pitches in Mumbai and Ahmedabad have raised eyebrows, but Morkel was sympathetic towards the curators, saying that they had provided strips to the best of their abilities.

“Credit to the curators for producing pitches that are 200-plus surfaces so late in the season. It is a nightmare. There is a lot of pressure on those guys. They put a lot of hard work into giving us the best surface that they can possibly prepare.”

The coach was unsure if the pitches are tiring because of overuse during the domestic season.

“So far this tournament, we have done really well with batting and bowling. Bar the one game, the first game, it was not a 200-plus surface.

“It was maybe a 170-run surface, and we went a little bit too hard at the start. But again, that was the learning. So there have been learnings from every match so far, and I think that it is the beauty about this game,” Morkel said.

Opener Ibrahim Zadran’s career-best T20I score and Mohammad Nabi’s four-wicket haul were the highlights of Afghanistan’s 82-run win against Canada in a T20 World Cup game at Chepauk on Thursday (February 19, 2026).

Zadran’s unbeaten 95 was the cornerstone of Afghanistan’s first-innings batting effort that culminated at 200 for four.

Canada never posed a real challenge in the chase after its top-order batters were left confounded by Afghanistan’s imperious spin attack.

Mujeeb Ur Rahman claimed his customary wicket in the PowerPlay before Nabi and Rashid Khan wrung the life out of the Canadian pursuit.

Nabi, in particular, was a tough nut for the Canadian batters to crack. The veteran off-spinner bowled slower through the air with immaculate control over his length, conceding just seven runs from his four-over spell.

Nabi was denied a maiden T20I fife-for after wicketkeeper Rahmanullah Gurbaz dropped a skier in his final over. But, by then, the veteran had ensured that Afghanistan would sign off from the tournament with a win.

Earlier, Zadran entertained a lively crowd, which counted more than 18,000, with a pleasing mix of deft touches and assertive big hits. The 24-year-old employed delicate late cuts and straight-elbowed lofted shots with equal poise.Zadran began slowly, adding just 14 runs from 14 balls. Meanwhile, his opening partner, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, sparkled with a streak of off-side boundaries.

Afghanistan’s progress, though, was impeded by a double strike from pacer Jaskaran Singh in the sixth over, which consumed Gurbaz and Gulbadin Naib.

But the Afghan innings was reinvigorated by a 95-run third-wicket partnership between Zadran and Sediqullah Atal. The left-right pair navigated through the middle overs, negating the Canadian spinners with frequent boundaries.

Despite losing a bit of steam, Zadran propelled Afghanistan to the 200-run mark, which eventually proved to be more than sufficient.

The scores: Afghanistan 200/4 in 20 overs (Rahmanullah Gurbaz 30, Ibrahim Zadran 95 n.o., Sediqullah Atal 44, Jaskaran Singh 3/52) bt Canada 118/8 in 20 overs (Harsh Thaker 30, Mohammad Nabi 4/7, Rashid Khan 2/19).

Toss: Canada; PoM: Zadran.