The excitement is intensifying as Team India lock horns against New Zealand in the final of T20 World Cup 2026 at Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium on Sunday. The Men in Blue will be looking to defend the T20 World Cup title, something which no team has done before in the history of the tournament.
India have lost just one match in the ongoing T20 World Cup so far, but it hasn’t been a perfect tournament for them by any means. In the first match against USA, India were restricted to 77/6 at one stage, but Suryakumar Yadav led from the front with an unbeaten 84 to take them to 161/9.
They ended the group stage unbeaten, but then lost to South Africa by 76 runs in their Super 8 opener in Ahmedabad.
However, the hosts were able to turn things around in the Super 8 stage, clinching wins over Zimbabwe and West Indies that eventually took them to the semi-finals. The semi-final against England was a thriller which India won by seven runs.
England were looking to chase down a total of 254, and even though Jacob Bethell (105) scored a hard-fought century, his efforts went in vain in the end. The Indian team management will be looking to make a few changes for the final against New Zealand.
Team India to drop Abhishek Sharma?
One big call that they will have to make will be on opener Abhishek Sharma. Abhishek has aggregated just 89 runs from seven matches, with his highest score of 55 coming against Zimbabwe. He endured three consecutive ducks at the start of the tournament, before going on to score 15 runs from 12 balls against South Africa.
And since his knock of 55 against Zimbabwe, Abhishek has scored 10 and 9 against West Indies and England respectively. While there is a chance that Sanju Samson could open with Ishan Kishan, and Tilak Varma bats at No.3, India are still likely to stick with Abhishek for the final.
Another concern for India is the form of their mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy. Varun has endured figures of 1/47 (vs South Africa), 1/35 (vs Zimbabwe), 1/40 (vs West Indies) and 1/64 (vs England) in the last four matches. Yet, he remains the joint-highest wicket-taker in the tournament with 13 scalps.
The way he conceded runs against England, however, worried Indian fans, and there have been calls to replace Varun with Kuldeep in the playing XI for the final.
“Varun Chakravarthy’s confidence looks shattered at the moment. Since the Super Eight stage, when he faced stronger teams, he has struggled and conceded a lot of runs. At a ground like the Narendra Modi Stadium, with big boundaries, Kuldeep Yadav could be a good option because he can turn the ball even on flat surfaces,” Gavaskar told India Today.
However, it remains to be seen if India will persist with Varun Chakravarthy or replace him with Kuldeep Yadav. Either way, India wouldn’t want Varun to concede too many runs, and would want him to get back to his absolute best.
India predicted playing XI for T20 World Cup 2026 final vs New Zealand: Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah.
