&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "IND vs NZ, T20 World Cup 2026 Final | Kiwis not favourites but ready to 'break hearts', says NZ skipper Santner")
All eyes will be on Ahmedabad on Sunday (Mar 8) when defending champions India take on New Zealand at the Narendra Modi Stadium in T20 World Cup 2026 final. The stadium with a capacity of over 132,000 will be filled with the fans of the Men in Blue. New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner, however, has only one goal, that is "to silence the crowd."
"T20 cricket is fickle at times. We've seen South Africa playing very good cricket all the way through and then had a little hiccup against us and out. So I think for us, it's taking confidence from that and if we go about our business the same way, we can upset another big team," said Santner at the press conference on the eve of the final.
New Zealand will take confidence from their performances in the tournament so far. They thrashed South Africa to win the semi-finals by nine wickets, thanks to Finn Allen, who blasted a 33-ball century - the fastest ever in the history of the tournament. However, the Black Caps did suffer defeats earlier in the competition against South Africa and England.
Why does Santner aim to silence the crowd in the T20 World Cup 2026 final?
The Kiwi skipper is aware that they aren’t the favourites to win the tournament but they are looking to break some hearts just like Pat Cummins’ Australia did in 2023 when they defeated India in the ODI World Cup final at the same venue.
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“It's going to be obviously a challenge. Everyone knows we're probably not the favorites, But we don't mind. We know we can, if we do our little things well and put in a strong team performance, put us in a pretty good position to hopefully lift the trophy. But yeah, I wouldn't mind breaking a few hearts to lift the trophy for once,” the New Zealand Captain said.
What's at stake for India?
India, the co-hosts and the defending champions, are aiming to become the first team to retain the T20 World Cup title and the first to lift the trophy on home soil. If Suryakumar Yadav's men manages to defeat New Zealand on Sunday, India would also become the first team to win the title three times.
Meanwhile, New Zealand last reached a T20 final in 2021 when they lost to Australia and they have never won a white-ball World Cup.
“I think there's obviously a lot of pressure on India to win this World Cup at home. I mean it would be, I guess if we don't win it'd be pretty cool to win a home World Cup so I think that comes with a lot of added pressure as well. So if we can go out there and try to put, I guess, the added pressure on them and see what happens,” Santner added on India's chances.