New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner has called for support from fans for the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026 final against hosts India at Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad. It will be 2:30 AM in New Zealand when the final begins on March 8.The Kiwi skipper wants fans back home to get up early and watch they play the final.
Here’s the full statement of Santner posted by BlackCaps --
"KIA ORA AOTEAROA BLACKCAPS captain Mitch Santner here. Sorry to disturb you on a Sunday. Now, I’m not really one for big speeches or rallying cries. But I did want to remind you all about our ICC T20 World Cup Final against India in Ahmedabad on Monday morning (2.30am NZT)."
"It’s fair to say we’re a bit outnumbered over here – 1.4 billion team India fans and all that. And I’m pretty sure most of the 130,000 seat Narendra Modi Stadium will be cheering for them too. But that’s all good – because we know back home you’ll have our backs," said Santner.
Santner wants the fans to make excuses for getting late to work or school. He hopes to return home with the trophy.
"Although you’re not with us – we see the photos, the posts, we hear the stories, and we know about the late nights & early starts. We feel your aroha. We get it – the final is super early Monday morning. But set your alarm and get around us one more time. And if you’re bit late to work or school, please pass on my message to your boss or teachers. Cheers Aotearoa – we’ll be home soon – hopefully with some extra luggage," said the all-rounder.
Earlier, Santner had said like many others that he wants to silence the Ahmedabad crowd as he expects a sea of blue to engulf the stadium.
India’s time to break the jinx
So far, New Zealand have had the upper hand over India in T20 World Cups. India are yet to beat New Zealand in T20 World Cups over the years. New Zealand have a hat-trick of wins over India at the event. Their last meet was in the 2021 edition. A loss to New Zealand meant that India were knocked out of the tournament at group stage.
Santner’s domination over Surya
Santner is a good match-up against India skipper Suryakumar Yadav. The left-arm spinner has dismissed him most times in T20s. From 12 meetings, Suryakumar has lost his wicket to Santner on five occasions. He has scored 94 runs at a strike rate of 118.98 against the Kiwi skipper.
However, Suryakumar has most T20I runs for India against New Zealand. He has scored 526 runs from 13 innings at an average of 58.44 and strike rate of 170.77. It includes one century and four fifties.