After India’s national cricket team’s historic T20 World Cup 2026 win, Harbhajan Singh has dismissed the strange notion that the huge Narendra Modi Stadium brings bad luck to the team. On March 8, Suryakumar Yadav’s team achieved a spectacular win by defeating New Zealand by 96 runs in Ahmedabad.
However, ahead of the T20 World Cup 2026 final, there were fears among India fans over a strange “Ahmedabad curse” linked to the Narendra Modi Stadium. This discussion intensified when the Men in Blue were heartbroken after losing to Australia in the 2023 ODI World Cup, ending their 10-match winning streak.
Talk of ‘Ahmedabad curse’ before India’s T20 World Cup 2026 glory
That night became painful for the entire nation, many people on social media started calling the Narendra Modi Stadium as “Panoti” and when the Men in Blue were to face New Zealand in the final of the T20 World Cup 2026 in Ahmedabad, these things took over the social media.
But this time the Men in Blue dominated the title clash from start to finish and Harbhajan Singh believes fans are blaming the wrong thing. The former World Cup winner has stressed that matches are won by good cricket and not the stadium where the game is played, saying the result depends on the performance on the day.
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Harbhajan Singh rejects unlucky stadium theory
India Today quoted Harbhajan Singh as saying, “When two good teams play against each other, one will definitely lose. When India played against Australia (in 2023), Australia was the better team on that particular day. In this game, we saw that if you put your right foot forward from the first ball, you will get results.”
“What people thought was that this ground was ‘panauti’ (unlucky) or whatever I heard on social media, that’s now done and dusted. That’s the mentality of people who have never played cricket.”
The former off-spinner said fans should stop creating myths about the grounds. Harbhajan told that India’s record at the famous Eden Gardens was also not good, but later the team started winning on this ground also. The cricket pundit also stressed that the venue had nothing to do with the cricketers or the outcome of the game.
Ravichandran Ashwin criticizes ‘unlucky stadium’ theory
Meanwhile, former off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin also urged fans not to turn any cricket ground into a “forbidden” place. He emphasized that teams can lose a match at one venue and win the next. This is the general nature of the game.
Ashwin gave the perfect example of how the Indian team won the T20 World Cup 2026 final at the same Ahmedabad stadium where they lost the ODI World Cup 2023 to Australia.
Ravichandran Ashwin said in “Ash Ki Baat”, “You can lose a game at one venue and win the next game. What’s the point in that? We have won many games in that stadium. Don’t make such a stadium taboo. I don’t think it should come into play. I am sure, after a time, the monkey on the back will be there. But now, I don’t think the team will be thinking that way.”
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