Khel Vaani | T20 World Cup: How Men In Blue Script History, Defeat History

In a match that saw tumbling of records, the men in blue exorcised all the demons and not only scripted history but even defeated history

Sunday, March 26, 2026, when the Indian captain Surya Kumar Yadav lost the toss and India was put to bat first in the ICC T20 Cricket final match against their old nemesis, New Zealand, the key question in the minds of 100,000 strong spectators present in Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad, was whether the pre-tournament favourite Indian team would get past their old nemesis, the Kiwis.

In their three previous encounters before yesterday’s final (in the 2007, 2016, and 2021 editions of the tournament), the Indian team had been squarely defeated by New Zealand.

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Against the Tide of History

But this was not the only problem before the men in blue. Before yesterday, no team had secured back-to-back summit wins in the ICC T20 Cricket World Cup, and no host country had won the tournament. Also, no team had previously won the T20 Cricket World Cup three times.

Before the 2026 T20 World Cup final, the Narendra Modi Stadium was a venue of traumatic, high-profile losses for India, particularly the following two in recent memory:

2023 ICC One Day Cricket World Cup Final (Nov 19, 2023): India faced a heartbreaking 6-wicket loss to Australia. After being asked to bat, India was bowled out for 240, failing to capitalise on a massive home advantage with over one lakh in attendance.

2026 T20 World Cup – Super Eight Group Stage (Feb 22, 2026): India suffered a humiliating 76-run defeat to South Africa. The Indian batting order collapsed under pressure, managing only 57 runs at the halfway mark in a chase of 188.

Further, the venue also had a reputation for “spongy" bounce in the first innings, often benefiting the chasing team, making it a difficult, pressure-packed stadium for the Indian team in title deciders.

Moreover, despite coming into the final with two back-to-back scores of 250-plus against West Indies and England, the Indian team had major worries about their ace batter Abhishek Sharma, who had struggled throughout the tournament. Also, the bowling unit had failed to show the same coherence as the batters, which had given a scare in the semi-final against England.

But the final on Sunday was special. To begin with,........

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