TimesofIndia.com in Ahmedabad: Mitchell Santner was slightly overwhelmed when he settled into his chair to address the media ahead of the T20 World Cup final against India in Ahmedabad. The room was packed and before the floor opened for questions, hands were frantically raised to shoot queries at the New Zealand captain. The over fifteen minutes of questions and answers mostly manuevered around the expected lines but before he got up, the all-rounder spoke about the pressure India will carry in this game. The pressure of hosting an event. Of defending a title. Of carrying the hopes of a nation is no small matter. When you combine the three, things reach next level. Meanwhile, opponents view this feeling for the hosts as an advantage and an opportunity for themselves.
Thousands will pass through the turnstiles and fill this gigantic Narendra Modi Stadium for the title clash. It’s no surprise that only a handful would cheer for the BlackCaps as another Sea of Blue is expected. The jersey sellers have already blocked the premium slots around Gate No.1 and Gate No.2, and they clearly favour blue, as it was their preferred hue, showing unfamiliarity with the opposite camp’s colours. For any opposing captain, feeling out of place at the Narendra Modi Stadium isn’t strange and Santner could well take cues from how Pat Cummins & Co. silenced nearly 1,00,000 people on November 19, 2023. Are they, like Cummins, looking to silence the crowd?“Yeah I guess that’s the goal isn’t it, to silence the crowd but I think that there is a lot of variables in T20 cricket and it is fickle at times. We’ve seen throughout the whole World Cup that a lot of teams are on similar pages and it comes down to some little moments in every game that changes the outcome. So I think England were very close to chasing that the other night, we’ve seen South Africa playing very good cricket all the way through and then I guess had a little hiccup against us and you’re out.
Yeah I guess that is the goal, to silence the crowd but I think that there is a lot of variables in T20 cricket and it is fickle at times
Mitchell Santner
“So I think for us it’s taking confidence in that that we can If we go about our business the same way we can upset another big team and I think there’s obviously a lot of pressure on India to win this World Cup at home. I mean it would be, I guess if we don’t win it’d be pretty cool to win a home World Cup so I think that comes with a lot of added pressure as well. So if we can go out there and try to put, I guess, the added pressure on them and see what happens,” said Santner during the press conference on eve of the match.New Zealand are no stranger to ICC knockouts. They have reached three finals — the 2015 ODI World Cup, the 2019 ODI World Cup, and the 2021 T20 World Cup – but their last limited overs title came back in 2000 when they beat India in the final of the Champions Trophy in 2000. The most recent ICC title came when they beat the same opposition in the 2021 World Test Championship final.
New Zealand’s captain Mitchel Santner celebrates the wicket of South Africa’s Dewald Brevis with teammates during the first T20 World Cup cricket semifinal. (AP)
The ‘good boys’ have hardly finished first in cricket but have been consistent enough to challenge the best in the business in multi-nation tournaments. The first semi-final at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata showed why they can’t be taken lightly as they walloped the then-unbeaten South Africa by nine wickets with 7.1 overs to spare.“I wouldn’t mind winning a trophy but yeah I think – you look at this group and the groups that have been in the past we are pretty consistent in these tournaments because we try not get overruled by the situation or opponents, we just go out there and do our thing as a unit. It’s been no different this time. And again, it’s going to be obviously a challenge. “Everyone knows we’re probably not the favorites, But we don’t mind. We know we can, if we do our little things well and put in a strong team performance, put us in a pretty good position to hopefully lift the trophy. But yeah, I wouldn’t mind breaking a few hearts to lift the trophy for once,” said Santner.They haven’t had a perfect campaign in the 2026 T20 World Cup but after surviving the Colombo leg and acing the Kolkata semi-final, they run into another team which is yet to play a perfect game. India dropped their contest at this venue during the Super Eight clash vs South Africa, and the Aiden Markram-led unit showed how beatable the hosts are in their own backyard. Even in the 499-run feast at the Wankhede on Thursday, the difference was just seven runs, further highlighting how the Men in Blue can be tested and pushed.Captains generally prefer to downplay the final hype but Santner is embracing it. He is aware that it’s not just another game but they will approach it with the mindset they have in the games preceding the title clash.“It’s easy to say it’s just another game but everyone knows it’s probably not. But I think the way you go about it has to be the same whether it’s your preparation, what that looks like on the day leading up to the game. And I think, it always comes down to a couple of moments, especially in T20 cricket, where if you can squeeze the opposition or take the advantage through there. I think we saw it the other night. “I don’t know, it always comes down to fielding at some stage, but if you can be very consistent in the way you approach the game with bearing a couple of moments where you could potentially be a little bit more ruthless or what that looks like, but I think – I don’t think you have to reinvent the wheel. It’s just you’re making a final, you’re coming up against another team who’s also playing some pretty good cricket So it’s never that easy,” said Santner.The good boys of cricket are ready to take the big boys on in their own backyard. The crowd, noise and burden of expectations will be a challenge, and Kiwis are ready to embrace it.
