A day before the T20 World Cup final, the usual tension and mind games between the teams have already begun. India and New Zealand are set to battle it out for the title and both captains had a few words in their pre-match press conferences.India go into the final with strong momentum after thrashing England by 253/7 in the semi-final at the Wankhede Stadium. But New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner believes the key for his team is to stop India from another huge total.See also: IND vs NZ T20 World Cup Final Live score
Can India erase bad memories in Ahmedabad with T20 World Cup title? Pressure will be the key!
He said before the match: “And at the end of the day, if it’s flat like last night, trying to restrict India to 220 instead of 250 might give us a good chance.”
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Do you think Santner’s ‘silencing the crowd’ will affect the game?
When asked about Santner’s comment, India captain Suryakumar Yadav replied with a smile and a bit of banter. “Jhooth bol raha hai (he is lying). We will try to bat well. If we score 225 or 250, that will be good. But sometimes the wicket is different and we have to play differently. We don’t predict from the dressing room that we have to score that much. Whatever the pitch demands, we have to play like that,” he said.Santner also spoke about the pressure India might feel playing the final at home in front of a packed crowd. “That’s the aim – to silence the crowd – but there are a lot of challenges in cricket and they are fluid. I think there is a lot of pressure on India to win at home,” he said. At the same time, the Kiwi captain sounded confident about his team. “I’m pretty excited. We’ve played here before. There’s no secrets. The guys are getting ready for tomorrow. It’s a one-game shootout. The guys are excited.”Santner’s remark reminded many of Pat Cummins’ famous comment before the 2023 ODI World Cup final about silencing the crowd. Unable to resist the nudge, Suryakumar said, “Sab hi same line chipka rahe hai. Kuch toh naya bolo (Everyone is saying the same thing now. Come up with something new).”
