Rohit Sharma and MS Dhoni lifted the trophy in the final of the Men’s T20 World Cup in Ahmedabad on Sunday, drawing a loud response from the crowd at the Narendra Modi Stadium.Dhoni led India to their first T20 World Cup title in 2007, while Rohit guided the side to their second title in 2024.
Indian fans in Ahmedabad react to loss vs South Africa | T20 World Cup
Earlier, New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner won the toss and decided to field India in the title match against New Zealand.New Zealand reached the final after defeating South Africa in the semi-finals. India secured a seven-run win over England in Mumbai to book their place in the final.In World T20 matches between the two sides, New Zealand holds the lead with wins in 2007, 2016 and 2021.However, India are chasing several milestones in the final. The side is aiming to become the first host to win the T20 World Cup, the first team to defend the title and the first team to win the tournament three times.For New Zealand, the task will be to contain the Indian batting order and deal with Jasprit Bumrah’s bowling.“I’m happy we’re batting first because we’re doing pretty well. It’s always good to have runs on the board in the semis or finals. Now it’s history, a new World Cup and we’re looking forward to it. It’s looking packed and it’s just time to bowl and hopefully we’ll give them a good show. Same team for us,” India captain Suryakumar Yadav said at the match.“We’re going to bowl first. It’s looking pretty good. We’ll see if that does anything and try to restrict them to a chaseable score. The lads are good. That’s why we’re playing. We’ve done it. A great opportunity, a semi-final and the lads will take confidence from it. This is the biggest stage and everyone’s ready. No, McConchie, Duffy is playing,” Santner said.India are playing in their fourth T20 World Cup final, the most by any team. Of the previous nine finals, six were won by a side fighter. Of the remaining three, India won two – in 2007 and 2024 – both in matches decided in the final.TeamsIndia (Playing XI): Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wk), Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Varun Chakravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah.New Zealand (Playing XI): Tim Seifert (wk), Finn Allen, Rachin Ravindra, Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Daryl Mitchell, James Neesham, Mitchell Santner (c), Matt Henry, Lockie Ferguson, Jacob Duffy.
