Three years after India fell to a painful ODI World Cup final defeat by Australia in front of 92,000 shell-shocked fans inside the Narendra Modi Stadium, they returned to Ahmedabad to right one of the gravest wrongs of Indian cricket. They did so emphatically, blasting 255 runs before bowling out New Zealand for 159 to win this T20 World Cup final by 96 runs.
In doing so, India made some T20 history: the first men’s side to retain the trophy, the first country to win it three times, and the first to win it on home soil. They have only lost one white-ball match since that painful loss to Australia – against South Africa earlier in the tournament – and now India can add the T20 crown to their ICC Champions Trophy last year. Throw in the women’s ODI World Cup, won last October, and India’s white-ball dominance is near total.
It was not the perfect tournament. India dropped more catches than any other side. That defeat by South Africa set some alarm bells ringing. But when it mattered most, in the semi-final against England and especially here in the final, they delivered shows of excellence in all three disciplines of the game.
The prolific opener Sanju Samson top-scored again, having hit 97 not out from 50 balls against the West Indies, 89 from 42 against England, and 89 again from 46 in the final. Samson finished with 321 total runs at an average of more than 80, and was rightly awarded player of the tournament. The 31-year-old’s ascent from almost nowhere to the top of the cricketing world has been the great individual story of this World Cup.
“I think this started two years ago,” he said. “In 2024, I couldn’t get a game. I started working, and this is exactly what I wanted to achieve.”
Samson’s opening partner Abhishek Sharma was majestic here too, after a difficult World Cup, as they racked up 92 runs together in the powerplay, the highest tally in the tournament. In hindsight, perhaps the trophy was won after those six overs.
Ishan Kishan scored a quick 50 too, before the Indian bowlers picked off New Zealand’s top order. Axar Patel took three key wickets, but Jasprit Bumrah was the pick of the bunch, finishing his four overs with figures of 4-15 and earning player of the match, albeit those wickets came against an already flailing Kiwi side.
Bumrah adapted his game to the conditions, taking the pace off the ball so that New Zealand had to swing hard to hurt him. Around 85 per cent of his deliveries were slower balls, and his last three wickets were all wickedly deceptive yorkers that drifted through the air and dropped in the crease before clattering the stumps. That is the mark of sporting genius, when your opponent knows what’s coming and still can’t stop it.
“I was really clear, I knew what I wanted to do,” Bumrah said. “The wicket was a flat one, so I used all my experience of playing here. Man of the match in a World Cup final at a ground where I started my cricket – it couldn’t be more special than this.”
More than anything, though, this was a team performance. Almost every player on the Indian side contributed either a wicket, an important catch (three crackers, in the case of Kishan) or a telling knock with the bat. The only player who didn’t was the captain Suryakumar Yadav, who did the greatest deed of all: he lifted the trophy as ticker tape fell.
The powerplay verged on absurdity as Samson and Abhishek clattered New Zealand’s bowlers to all corners of the ground. Kishan joined in as all three went on the attack with almost every ball. Lockie Ferguson was particularly bruised by the onslaught, giving up 48 runs in his two overs before he was pulled from the line of fire.
New Zealand’s ploy of mostly slower balls failed to disrupt India’s flow, and the bleeding only slowed when Mitchell Santner brought himself into the attack. Then came an important 16th over as Jimmy Neesham took three quick wickets for only one run. The stadium went quiet, and India’s rhythm was briefly lost.
Yet Shivam Dube’s vicious solo attack on Neesham’s final over took India from 231-5 to 255 and set New Zealand a mammoth task, and they never got into the chase as early wickets tumbled.
Santner’s captaincy may come under scrutiny. The decision to bring in seamer Jacob Duffy for off-spinner Cole McConchie didn’t work, a bold move after McConchie bowled so well against left-handers in the semi-final. The plan to bowl slower balls failed too – where Bumrah was masterful, New Zealand’s bowlers struggled, sending down too many wides and wayward deliveries.
But the gulf in class was enormous. New Zealand have now lost all four of the major men’s finals they have played, but this might sting the least, because whatever Santner had concocted, India would have proved too strong.
India can go to next year’s ODI World Cup in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia looking to complete the set of three men’s white-ball trophies. The pain of defeat by Australia will not be entirely soothed until the 50-over trophy is in their hands. But that can wait. India are T20 world champions again and, three years after agony in Ahmedabad, they finally have their moment of ecstasy.
