Grand moment at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. The India vs New Zealand T20 World Cup Final 2026 has got off to a great start. Two former captains of Team India – MS Dhoni and Rohit Sharma – came to the stadium with the trophy. To make the tournament special, ICC (International Cricket Council) Chairman Jay Shah was also present there.
Rohit Sharma and MS Dhoni were also present at the Wankhede Stadium to watch the semi-final match between India and England. In the presence of both the former World Cup winning captains, the current champion Team India defeated England by 7 runs in a high scoring match.
When Rohit Sharma and MS Dhoni brought the T20 World Cup 2026 trophy for the grand finale, the crowd present at the Narendra Modi Stadium jumped with joy.
The team led by Suryakumar Yadav is on the verge of creating history in the T20 World Cup. If they can defeat New Zealand in the final today, the Men in Blue will be the first team to successfully defend their T20 World Cup title.
See the precious moments here
– Nick Knight (@KnightNick34590) 8 March 2026
Meanwhile, New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner won the toss and decided to bowl first. After winning the toss, the Kiwi captain said that he was liking the pitch, which has some grass on it. New Zealand decided to bowl first with the intention of using the green patches of the surface.
Why did New Zealand choose to bowl first in the T20 World Cup 2026 final?
“We’re going to bowl first. Looks like a good surface, there’s a bit of grass on it. So, I guess we’ll see if it does something on top. And we know obviously India have a lot of strength to try to restrict them to, I think, a chaseable score. The boys are good (talking about the mood in the camp)”, Mitchell Santner said.
“I mean, that’s what we play games for. Obviously in front of so many people, it’s going to be amazing. It’s going to be a great night, and hopefully we can do well”, he added.
India captain Suryakumar Yadav said he would be happy to bat first as the pitch is made of red soil. And on red soil, the batsmen of the Indian cricket team know how to score runs in the T20 World Cup 2026 final.
“We are happy to bat first. We wanted to bat. It’s been working for us in the last game as well. We played this kind of cricket. Red clay, so we are happy to bat first. I mean, when you play a semi-final or a World Cup final, it’s always good to score runs, and you come out and defend”, Yadav said.
playing eleven
India (Playing XI): Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wk), Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Tilak Verma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dubey, Axar Patel, Varun Chakraborty, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah.
New Zealand (Playing XI): Tim Seifert(w), Finn Allen, Rachin Ravindra, Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Daryl Mitchell, James Neesham, Mitchell Santner(c), Matt Henry, Lockie Ferguson, Jacob Duffy.
Read more: India or Pakistan? Sanath Jayasuriya is ready to join this Asian team after Sri Lanka’s exit
