India captain Suryakumar Yadav has an interesting history with the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. In 2021, Suryakumar made his much-anticipated T20I debut in the country, declaring with a first-ball six against Jofro Archer. Many believed at the time that Suryakumar’s India debut was delayed by at least two years and that the batter had plenty to give the country in this format. They were right.
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Ahmedabad is also the stadium that buried Suryakumar Yadav’s ODI career after a dreadful performance in the 2023 ODI World Cup final where Surya failed to provide impetus to the Indian innings when the team desperately needed it.
The Mumbaikar returns to the same venue again, this time as India’s captain, hoping to bury the ghosts of the past when the hosts take on New Zealand in the final of the 2026 FIFA World Cup T20. Suryakumar Yadav has had a mixed relationship with the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. (Photo by AFP)
India will face New Zealand in the final at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad at 7 pm IST. The match will be telecast on Star Sports and streamed live on JioHotstar in India.
Unlike in 2023, India will not enter the summit clash with a perfect record. There were a lot of hiccups. The world’s No. 1 T20I batsman and No. 1 T20I bowler are woefully out of form and ‘this’ close to being benched from the squad. India struggled and stuttered at several stages of the tournament but found their way to the top where they will face Mitchell Santner’s side on Sunday, March 8.
India reached the final after beating England in a tense, high-scoring thriller, winning by just 7 runs at the Wankhede Stadium. Jasprit Bumrah and Sanju Samson put in brilliant performances as India all but defended a total of 253 runs.
New Zealand’s story is similar. They were disjointed for most of the tournament, leading to their near elimination at the Super 8 stage. Their qualification to the semi-finals rested on the Net Run Rate equation involving Pakistan, who played the last game of the Super 8 tournament. The New Zealand players gathered in Mitchell Santner’s room and bit their nails as the high-scoring thriller got underway.
However, Qudrat ka Nizam struck, or shall we say not – for Pakistan and the Kiwis qualified for the semi-finals of the tournament.
While everyone expected New Zealand to thrash favorites South Africa, the Kiwis once again showed what has made them one of the most underrated sides in the world. An exemplary performance with both bat and ball saw the Kiwis dominate the 2024 finalists to win by 9 wickets.
The win was so dominant that it put a smile on even Santner’s face. At the pre-match press conference ahead of the final, Santner was all smiles and stopped short of quoting Pat Cummins, saying he wouldn’t mind breaking a few hearts on Sunday.
INDIA vs NEW ZEALAND: TEAM NEWS
After such a move by South Africa, it is highly unlikely that New Zealand will replace a single player in their squad. All members are fit and well and may also fit right into the team’s plans against India. Cole McConchie is the exact kind of unknown name that has troubled India in the past, a factor New Zealand will be building on on Sunday.
Glenn Phillips, Daryl Mitchell and Rachin Ravindra have a lot of experience against India and can hurt the opposition in due time.
However, their best asset may be Mitchell Santner, Kane Williamson’s wily successor who has shown he has the ability to lead a team. However, Santner has a knack for spoiling the packaging of his bowlers’ overs, a mistake he would like to avoid.
The biggest example of this problem was seen against England in the Super 8s, where Santner ended up feeding Glenn Phillips to two England right-armers, that too in the dying overs. Phillips conceded 22 and New Zealand eventually lost the match.
This then means that New Zealand would like to bring more bowling reinforcements into the side. And perhaps the only change they can make is to replace 35-year-old James Neesham. Neesham did not bat much in the tournament and conceded 42 runs in 3 overs against South Africa in a match where the Proteas’ batting struggled.
One wonders if Neesham’s experience will save him again, or if someone like Jacob Duffy will be called up as a surprise package for the final game.
India, on the other hand, comes into the competition with questions of its own. Should Varun Chakravarthy play or be replaced by Kuldeep Yadav? Is it better to remove Abhishek Sharma from the top order and reinforce him with Rinku in the lower order?
There are doubts, but India are likely to stick with the combination that scored 253 on Thursday, March 5 in Mumbai.
AHMEDABAD PITCH AND WEATHER REPORT
The match will be played on a mixed-ground wicket, unlike the black ground used in the 2023 final. Runs off the board are expected, but not as much as 250. The worrying part may be the weather. It was extremely hot in Ahmedabad the day before the match, suggesting that dew may play a role on Sunday.
It would be unfortunate if this turns into a toss-up final where whoever chooses to bat second wins the game. In Mumbai, Suryakumar Yadav said India would like to bat first if they win the toss, but that may not be the case on Sunday. T20 World Cup Final: Suryakumar Yadav inspects the pitch in Ahmedabad. (PTI Photo)
T20 WORLD CUP FINAL: PLAYERS TO WATCH
Indian opener Sanju Samson is definitely the one to watch out for in the final. He played only 4 games in the tournament but had an incredible impact on the Indian batting line-up. Since his introduction, India have crossed the 250 mark twice, a feat they had previously failed to do.
Samson played the best two innings of his career in the virtual quarter-finals and semi-finals and hopes to carry his form into the top flight.
Apart from Samson, eyes will be on big man of the match Hardik Pandya who has produced some crucial turns with both bat and ball in this tournament.
Apart from Samson and Hardik, eyes will be on Jasprit Bumrah who has been India’s best player in most of the games. Bumrah might not have won the man of the match award in all the games, but fans know that he probably deserved it in the last two matches.
If these three click, India will be unstoppable on Sunday.
All eyes will be on Finn Allen in New Zealand, especially if New Zealand are second. Allen raced to a century in just 33 balls against South Africa despite a small target of 170 runs. His batting was so terribly destructive that it looked like he was batting in a video game. Finn Allen celebrates his set against South Africa in the T20 World Cup semi-final. (AP photo)
There are some big players in New Zealand who played well against India. Daryl Mitchell is of that type and is likely to make an impact at the Narendra Modi Stadium. Attention will also be on Rachin Ravindra, who made his World Cup debut at the venue and scored 123* against defending champions England in the 2023 World Cup.
INDIA vs NEW ZEALAND: PREDICTED PLAYING XI
India
Suryakumar Yadav (c), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan (wk), Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Shivam Dube, Varun Chakravarthy/Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh.
New Zealand
Tim Seifert (wk), Finn Allen, Rachin Ravindra, Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Daryl Mitchell, James Neesham/Jacob Duffy, Mitchell Santner (c), Cole McConchie, Matt Henry, Lockie Ferguson.
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Issued by:
Kingshuk Kusari
Published on:
08 Mar 2026 01:52 IST
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