Mitchell Santner, the New Zealand captain, admitted that the PowerPlay overs in both the essays proved decisive during his team’s annihilation by India in the ICC T20 World Cup final in Ahmedabad on Sunday (March 8, 2026).

“I think the tale of the day was the two PowerPlays. They were 90 for none (92 without loss) and we were three for 40 (52 for three),” Santner said. “When you come up against a very good team in a final, you always want to do well. We obviously know that we weren’t at our best. If you aren’t at your best against a very good team, you are going to be exposed, and that’s what happened tonight (Sunday),” the skipper added.

While India openers Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma took their time to get going – scoring just 12 off the first two overs before going berserk to add 80 more in the next four overs – New Zealand contributed handsomely to the host’s cause by bowling wide of the stumps way too early in the innings.

“Credit to Sanju and Abhishek at the top to get 90 (92) off the PowerPlay,” Santner said. “It’s pretty tough from there (to come back). It was a pretty good pitch throughout. There wasn’t much for the bowlers. The cutters weren’t really holding, there was not much spin. Either way you look at it, if we could have got a couple (of wickets) in the PowerPlay, squeezed them a little bit through the middle, 220 could have been chased down on a very good pitch”.

Sanju Samson on Sunday (March 8, 2026) attributed his phenomenal success in the business end of India’s triumphant T20 World Cup campaign to his “big conversations” with Sachin Tendulkar, saying he had been in constant touch with the batting great for last two months.

Samson was adjudged the Player of the Tournament for his explosive knocks in the last three matches of the event, including the semifinal against England and the final against New Zealand.

“For the last couple of months, I have been in constant contact with Sachin sir. I reached out to him and had big big conversations with him. Getting a guidance from someone like him, what more can you ask for?”

“I am very grateful for everyone who supported me,” Samson said India’s 96-run win in the title clash in which he top-scored with a scintillating 89.

Samson, who was struggling prior to the World Cup, added, “Feels like a dream. Very happy and grateful. Out of words, out of emotions.”

“To be honest, it started one-two years before. When I was in the 2024 World Cup team where I didn’t play, I kept visualising, kept on working and this was exactly what I wanted to do. After the New Zealand series I was broken, my dreams were completely shattered.”

“And I was thinking what can I do. But God had different plans. And I was rewarded for being brave enough to dream. A lot of former players have reached out to me and tried to help me out.”

Asked what more does he want to achieve, the wicketkeeper-batter said, “This itself is very big for me, I want to enjoy it right now and then after a few days will figure out what more to do.”

“I have played such a long innings after a long time, so I am having cramps. Sorry guys.” Abhishek Sharma — India’s marauding opener — was candid enough to admit that as he excused himself early from the post-match media interaction. His opening partner Ishan Kishan continued to field questions from a large media contingent well past 1 a.m., hours after India sealed a historic Men’s T20 World Cup triumph.

Abhishek had entered the tournament as a prime contender for the Player of the Tournament award. But by the time India reached the knockouts, the narrative had shifted to his loss of form. Captain Suryakumar Yadav had publicly backed him, saying: “Since he has carried the burden of the team on his shoulders for so long, it’s time for us to do the same when he is going through a tough patch.”

A tally of 89 runs from eight innings — including a lone half-century against Zimbabwe — at a strike rate hovering around 130 had raised questions. On Sunday night, though, Abhishek turned the tide emphatically.

His blistering 21-ball 52 laid the platform for India’s emphatic 96-run win over New Zealand, making India the first team to defend the T20 World Cup, the first to win it at home and the first to claim the title three times.

Abhishek, however, credited Shivam Dube — one of India’s unsung heroes of the campaign for the second successive edition — for playing a small but crucial role in the turnaround.

“Today I batted with Shivam Dube’s bat, so thank you Dube,” Abhishek said. “In the morning I felt like trying something different. Shubman (Gill) was not around, so I walked up to Dube and picked his bat.”

At the Narendra Modi Stadium, the signs were evident early. His first ball — a solid forward defence to Glenn Phillips — hinted that he was willing to bide his time. Once convinced the surface was as true as the one at the Wankhede Stadium during the semifinal, Abhishek cut loose, racing to a half-century in just 18 balls.

The unwavering backing from the Indian dressing room and Abhishek’s own belief eventually paid off — a lesson that extends beyond cricket.

“I have been dealing with this phase for the last one month after having a dream run for about a year and a half. One thing matters a lot in such situations — the company you keep. If the people around you want to help you become better, it makes a big difference. When I was not contributing with the bat, everyone in the team still believed in me. They kept saying, ‘He will do it’,” Abhishek said.

“I never doubted my teammates, coaches or the support staff. The only question I had was why things were not working for me. I believe the environment around you matters a lot. The people around you should motivate you. Everyone goes through tough phases in life, not just in cricket. At that time, the company you keep becomes very important.”

“The first thing is to trust yourself no matter how bad the phase is. When you start doubting yourself, it creates pressure and you cannot play your natural game. That doesn’t help the team either. Self-confidence, hard work and helping others are very important. When you help others, it eventually comes back to you.”

As it turned out, borrowing a teammate’s bat — a friendly gesture —ended up helping Abhishek rediscover his touch on the biggest stage.

Will the Indian cricket team repeat history? Will it defeat history? No men’s team has won the ICC T20 World Cup back-to-back and no host nation has won the title in its own backyard. Standing against them and trying to prevent them from repeating and defeating history is New Zealand.

A team that has beaten India every single time in the T20 World Cup. A team that has beaten them in the final of the ICC World Test Championship.

A team that may not be big, as far as cricketing superstars are concerned, but almost always ends up in the knockout stages of an ICC tournament. A team that enjoys being away from the spotlight. A team that doesn’t fear any opponent.

The advantage of having been in India prior to the tournament was a smart move and that is paying dividends. The Kiwis got used to the format in the five-match T20I series. Finn Allen and Tim Seifert joined the team at some point and suddenly, New Zealand went from losing wickets in the PowerPlay to unleashing their power-hitting.

There have been some great innings in this World Cup, including the two brilliant ones from Sanju Samson’s blade, but it’s hard to think beyond the century off 33 deliveries by Allen. That opening partnership and their battle with Jasprit Bumrah is going to be the key when New Zealand decide whether to bat first or chase. Couple of areas where they can get better is the promotion of Daryl Mitchell in the batting order and the use of the fifth bowler.

India had a close shave against England after Jacob Bethell played an innings for the ages. Their batting looks good, as can be seen by the 250-plus runs they posted against England. It’s the bowling that is the worry, as England came within a whisker of overhauling the Indian total.

They have a problem with Varun Chakaravarthy being clobbered for runs from the Super Eight stage. He looks down on confidence. Will they take a bold call and include Kuldeep Yadav for the longer boundaries in Ahmedabad?

With Abhishek Sharma unable or unwilling to change his approach and holing out in the deep in the PowerPlay itself, will they push Ishan Kishan to open the batting?

If they do, it could go exactly as it was in the Asia Cup final last year, with Rinku Singh being in the spotlight in the crunch. ‘God’s Plan’, as the ink on his arm says.

Will the Indian cricket team repeat history? Will it defeat history? No men’s team has won the ICC T20 World Cup back-to-back and no host nation has won the title in its own backyard. Standing against them and trying to prevent them from repeating and defeating history is New Zealand.

A team that has beaten India every single time in the T20 World Cup. A team that has beaten them in the final of the ICC World Test Championship.

A team that may not be big, as far as cricketing superstars are concerned, but almost always ends up in the knockout stages of an ICC tournament. A team that enjoys being away from the spotlight. A team that doesn’t fear any opponent.

The advantage of having been in India prior to the tournament was a smart move and that is paying dividends. The Kiwis got used to the format in the five-match T20I series. Finn Allen and Tim Seifert joined the team at some point and suddenly, New Zealand went from losing wickets in the PowerPlay to unleashing their power-hitting.

There have been some great innings in this World Cup, including the two brilliant ones from Sanju Samson’s blade, but it’s hard to think beyond the century off 33 deliveries by Allen. That opening partnership and their battle with Jasprit Bumrah is going to be the key when New Zealand decide whether to bat first or chase. Couple of areas where they can get better is the promotion of Daryl Mitchell in the batting order and the use of the fifth bowler.

India had a close shave against England after Jacob Bethell played an innings for the ages. Their batting looks good, as can be seen by the 250-plus runs they posted against England. It’s the bowling that is the worry, as England came within a whisker of overhauling the Indian total.

They have a problem with Varun Chakaravarthy being clobbered for runs from the Super Eight stage. He looks down on confidence. Will they take a bold call and include Kuldeep Yadav for the longer boundaries in Ahmedabad?

With Abhishek Sharma unable or unwilling to change his approach and holing out in the deep in the PowerPlay itself, will they push Ishan Kishan to open the batting ?

If they do, it could go exactly as it was in the Asia Cup final last year, with Rinku Singh being in the spotlight in the crunch. ‘God’s Plan’, as the ink on his arm says.

(Professional Management Group).

In its earlier modest avatar as the Motera, the current gigantic Narendra Modi Stadium, witnessed history. In this venue, Sunil Gavaskar became the first man to reach 10,000 Test runs with a late cut off Pakistani spinner Ijaz Faqih in 1987. And in 1994, Kapil Dev emerged as the highest wicket-taker in Tests, scalping Sri Lankan Hashan Tillakaratne as his 432nd victim.

These achievements, though, were at an individual level, while India searched for a collective team performance that would lend an aura to this ground. The Men in Blue lost the 2023 World Cup final to Australia in Ahmedabad on a November night that broke countless hearts.

Cut to the present, Suryakumar Yadav’s men have a chance to script history as Sunday’s (March 8, 2026) ICC T20 World Cup final against New Zealand beckons. Stepping in as defending champion, India seeks an encore.

Through the campaign, despite a solitary loss against South Africa, India found a way to dominate. Its tail-wind now is being propelled by opener Sanju Samson, spearhead Jasprit Bumrah and all-rounder Hardik Pandya.

Opener Samson has lent assurance and aggression. Nearly everyone has chipped in, and some have excelled in their secondary roles too. Seamer Shivam Dube batted well, and spinner Axar Patel displayed incredible fielding skills.

Still, there are concerns. Abhishek Sharma has a lone fifty, and Varun Chakaravarthy’s mystique as a spinner has been dented. Both stepped into this championship as ICC’s number one batter and bowler respectively in T20Is. Their mixed yield is another reflection of how sport can be a hard place.

Facing-off from the rival corner is New Zealand. Finn Allen’s 33-ball unbeaten 100 pulverised South Africa in the semifinal at Eden Gardens. His fellow batter Tim Seifert has been prolific while among bowlers, Rachin Ravindra the spinner, has dominated with 11 wickets and seamer Matt Henry has bowled tight.

The Black Caps have often ambushed India at cricket’s biggest stages. Be it the 2019 World Cup semifinal at Manchester, or the 2021 ICC World Test Championship final at Southampton, New Zealand dashed Indian hopes.

In the 1980s and 1990s, the West Indies was the second-favourite side of most fans, and now that tag sits easily upon New Zealand, as the likes of Kane Williamson enhanced the endearment-factor.

Mitchell Santner’s troops will be conscious of a drought when it comes to ICC titles. A lone Test Championship title, and multiple runner-up finishes define New Zealand’s tilt at glory so far.

In ODIs, back in 2000, New Zealand won the ICC KnockOut Trophy at India’s expense in Nairobi with Chris Cairns smashing an unbeaten 102. The one link from those days is Ajit Agarkar, who played that game, and is now the chairman of Indian selectors.

New Zealand would want to replicate its giant-killing act. However, India wants to own a slice of history in a city that seeks a sporting high as a prelude to hosting the 2030 Commonwealth Games besides dreaming about a probable Olympic debut in 2036.

Semifinals, the penultimate hurdle in a competition, can be the most taxing of endeavours. The need to be in the ‘here’ and ‘now’, and not to think about the impending final, is the first challenge. Second is the fear that all the hard work leading up to this moment, could be undone against a strong rival or an unfancied opposition.

India has had a love-hate equation with the last-four stage, especially in ICC events organised at home. In the 50-over World Cups, be it 1987 or 1996, the host fell in the semifinals. A similar fate awaited in the 2016 ICC T20 World Cup.

However, in the 2011 ODI World Cup, M.S. Dhoni’s men won the trophy. But in 2023, the summit clash against Australia proved fatal.

Now, Suryakumar Yadav’s men get another chance to seize an ICC silverware in their backyard. On Thursday (March 5, 2026), the semifinal bogey was dealt with, albeit nervously, against England in the T20 World Cup at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

In a battle of runs, there were 34 sixes, India wrested a seven-run win. Overall, 499 runs were scored, and within this big picture, India kept finding heroes.

If in setting the target, Sanju Samson (89) was the force-multiplier, Shivam Dube and Tilak Varma also played a vital hand. When it was India’s turn to defend, there was always the masterly skill of constriction and extraction that Jasprit Bumrah excels in.

The spearhead’s one for 33, was remarkable, and when he conceded just six in the 18th over, Bumrah flipped scoreboard pressure back onto the visitors despite Jacob Bethell’s (105) stunning innings. Hardik Pandya then gave away nine in the 19th over and claimed a wicket. And when Dube stepped in for the last over, Harry Brook’s men needed 30, which proved steep.

This will be a contest for which the Indians would be remembered for their fielding. Having shelled catches in earlier outings, the Men in Blue found a redemptive arc. Even as Varun Chakaravarthy leaked 64 runs and extras featured 10 wides, amends were made on the turf.

Axar Patel took a skier, caught another one diving full length, and then pouched one metres before the rope and relayed it to Dube. In the last over, Hardik’s bullseye throw left Bethell short of the crease. India has found its groove, and now there is New Zealand to contend with during Sunday’s final at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

He was first pushed down the order to accommodate Shubman Gill. He then lost his place in the XI to Jitesh Sharma’s finishing prowess before eventually regaining his preferred slot at the top of the order on the cusp of the Men’s T20 World Cup. What followed was a horrendous series against New Zealand, forcing him to wait a little longer for his T20 World Cup debut.

Cut to Thursday night and, for the second time in as many outings, Sanju Samson emerged as the toast of a cricket-crazy nation. If his unbeaten 97 in the virtual quarterfinal against the West Indies to guide India into the knockouts was not impressive enough, Samson carried the momentum forward with a scintillating 42-ball 89 to set up India’s nail-biting semifinal win against England at the Wankhede Stadium.

Samson reflected on the rough patch that preceded his turnaround. “That was very, very challenging for me. I definitely wanted to come and do what I am trying to do now for the country, contribute and win games in the World Cup,” a relieved Samson said during a media conference after India booked its second consecutive final.

“I was trying a bit too much in the New Zealand series. I wanted to make an impact and get into the level of the World Cup here. But you know this format. Cricket can get very funny. Even the best in the world actually struggle to score runs in this format, so I have to respect the game. I have to come back to my basics, work a bit more from my basics. A lot of work went really well. I think when hard times were coming, I think my close people, the people who I love, my support, were with me and I closed all my windows. I shut down my phone. I was not on social media. I am still not on social media. So less noise, less people interacting with me. That really helped me to focus in the right direction and I am really happy with how I am doing.”

Samson enjoyed a slice of luck in the third over when England captain Harry Brook dropped a regulation catch at mid-on with the batter on 15— an opportunity India’s opener made England regret.

“I have been unlucky for quite a while, so it’s okay to be lucky at times and then thought about making the most of it,” Samson said, in a tongue-in-cheek reply.

While Samson admitted that successive impactful knocks have taken some weight off his shoulders, he hopes to continue in the same vein on Sunday night against New Zealand in Ahmedabad.

“It feels really great or relieved that I have been actually for a few years trying to do something like this for my country, so just waiting with a lot of patience, a lot of inner work, a lot of training, and a lot of practice,” Samson said.

“Definitely I should be very grateful, but I kind of feel that we have one more step to go. If we do that, then all the work, everything was worth it. I feel that one more innings should be good.”

With two southpaws — Jacob Bethell and Sam Curran — in full flow, India opted against giving left-arm spinner Axar Patel his fourth over. Instead, captain Suryakumar Yadav held back the final over of Axar until the very end — a move that proved decisive as India clinched a tense seven-run win over England to enter the ICC T20 World Cup final here on Thursday.

England needed 61 from the last four overs, leaving the contest finely poised. Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah and Arshdeep Singh each had an over remaining, with the question being not just who would bowl but when. The alternative option was to use medium-pacer Shivam Dube.

“The game was going neck-to-neck and they were trying to actually get 13-15 runs in an over. We knew that if we take the game till the end, they might actually get heavy on us,” Sanju Samson, who was named Player-of-the-Match for the second successive game, said at the post-match media briefing.

“We just wanted to finish off the game a bit earlier. That’s where we tried to bowl Bumrah, Arshdeep and Hardik in those three overs.”

Bethell attacked Arshdeep in the 17th over, striking the last two deliveries for a six and four to bring the equation down to 45 off 18 balls. Bumrah followed with a typically tight over, conceding just six runs without allowing a boundary.

With 39 needed off the final two overs, Hardik delivered a vital blow. Not only did he break the threatening partnership but also conceded just nine runs in the penultimate over.

Bethell, who had reached three figures, was run out off the first ball of the final over bowled by Dube. Though Dube conceded 22 runs, the cushion of 29 runs proved just enough as India sealed a place in the final against New Zealand in Ahmedabad on Sunday.

Costly miss

England captain Harry Brook admitted that his dropped catch of Samson when the batter was on 15 proved costly.

“Unfortunately, I didn’t catch it and he played a very good innings as well. Obviously it’s in the back of your mind. I kept on looking at the scoreboard and he was piling the runs on. I was like, I am going to have to get 80-90 tonight. It’s not ideal but it happened’’.