India National Cricket Team vs New Zealand National Cricket Team: Former India captains MS Dhoni and Rohit Sharma carried the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup trophy onto the field ahead of the 2026 final between the India national cricket team and the New Zealand national cricket team at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Sunday, March 8, 2026. The two World Cup-winning captains walked out with the trophy during the pre-match ceremony, drawing loud cheers from a packed crowd at the world’s largest cricket stadium. Jay Shah, chairman of the International Cricket Council, was also present during the moment.
Dhoni and Rohit are the only captains to have led India to T20 World Cup titles. Dhoni guided India to the inaugural championship in 2007, while Rohit captained the team to victory in the 2024 edition.
The two former captains had also attended India’s semifinal against England at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium earlier in the tournament. India defeated England by seven runs in that match to secure its place in the final.
Meanwhile, New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner won the toss and chose to bowl first.
Santner said the pitch appeared promising with a slight grass covering and that his team preferred to chase under the conditions.
“It looks like a good surface with a tinge of grass on it, so we’ll see if it does anything early. India have a lot of power, so we’ll try to restrict them to a chaseable score,” Santner said.
India captain Suryakumar Yadav said his side was comfortable batting first, noting that setting a target had worked well for the team in recent matches.
“It’s a World Cup final and it’s always good to have runs on the board,” Yadav said. “We’re happy to bat first and then come out and defend.”
India, the defending champions, are aiming to create history in the tournament. A victory would make them the first team to successfully defend the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup title.
Playing XIs
India: Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wk), Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav (capt), Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Varun Chakaravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah.
New Zealand: Tim Seifert (wk), Finn Allen, Rachin Ravindra, Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Daryl Mitchell, James Neesham, Mitchell Santner (capt), Matt Henry, Lockie Ferguson, Jacob Duffy.