Australian captain Pat Cummins, who gave India one of the biggest upsets in an ICC tournament at the Narendra Modi Stadium, has issued a stern warning to New Zealand over the dominance of a team on their home soil.
India has been the best-performing team in white-ball ICC tournaments in the last three years. They have made it to the finals of ICC tournaments in CWC 2023, ICC T20 World Cup 2024, ICC Champions Trophy 2025 and now ICC T20 World Cup 2026.
Of all these tournaments, India had lost only to the Australian team in the ICC ODI World Cup 2023. Pat Cummins was the captain of the same team that defeated the Indians in the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup.
Pat Cummins gives stern warning to New Zealand before the T20 World Cup final match
New Zealand will play against India at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, the same venue that hosted the ICC World Cup final in 2023. Australia captain Pat Cummins, who has prior experience of leading the team in World Cup finals against the host nation, has issued a stern warning to New Zealand.
Pat Cummins has shown that it is always difficult for a visiting country to defeat the host country on its own soil. However, in the history of the ICC T20 World Cup, no team has been able to win it on home soil.
“It’s always tough to beat the home team, but New Zealand have been great. I’ll definitely be watching the T20 World Cup final; it will be a great encounter,” Pat Cummins told Sky Sports.
Pat Cummins said, “It is always difficult to beat the home team, but New Zealand have been great. I will definitely watch the T20 World Cup final, it will be a great match.” (Sky Sports). pic.twitter.com/kROUCyXqrW
– Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) 8 March 2026
India’s very poor record against New Zealand in T20 World Cup
India’s record while playing against New Zealand in the ICC T20 World Cup has been very poor. They have met these teams on three occasions before, including only group stage games in the ICC T20 World Cup.
According to the data, even when they faced off against the same opponent during the ICC Champions Trophy final in 2025, India did not have the upper hand. But India still put up a one-sided performance and emerged victorious on that occasion to claim their third overall Champions Trophy title.
However, New Zealand have their powerful strikers and India’s defeat against them in the T20 World Cup will benefit them as they face each other in the T20 World Cup final for the first time. New Zealand were so close in 2021, when they lost to Australia.
Mitchell Santner vs Suryakumar Yadav: Who has the better record in T20Is?
Talking about the shortest format of international cricket, Mitchell Santner may not have been as successful a captain as India’s Suryakumar Yadav, but he is still considered one of the greatest captains ever in this format of the game.
Santner, who has led New Zealand in almost 47 matches as captain in T20Is, has won 26 matches and lost 16, while 5 ended without a result. Under his captaincy, New Zealand have made it to the Champions Trophy as well as the T20 World Cup finals in 2025 and 2026 respectively.
Suryakumar Yadav is truly an inspirational player in the shortest format of the game. The veteran has led India in 44 matches and has a win record of over 80.95 per cent, making him one of the most successful captains ever in T20I cricket. Suryakumar himself has 17 POTM awards, the most for any Indian cricketer.
Also read: Scary moment! Zimbabwe batsman admitted to hospital after being hit by deadly bouncer from New Zealand bowler
