T20 World Cup 2026 Final Toss: New Zealand ask India to bat first in Ahmedabad

New Zealand have won the toss in the ongoing T20 World Cup 2026 final in Ahmedabad and have invited India to bat first. While Mitchell Santner wanted to chase, India's captain Suryakumar Yadav was happy with the decision to bat first. He mentioned that they would have done the same since it has been working for the team so far. 

The Kiwis have dropped spinner McConchie and have brought in Jacob Duffy into the playing XI. This is a good news for Abhishek Sharma who has been struggling against the spinners throughout the tournament. But the Kiwis still have Mitchell Santner, so the tension is not off completely. 

Meanwhile, the Indian team have made no changes to the playing XI and have gone with the same combination. This was anticipated as they don't like making changes to their winning XI. The pitch conditions aren't in favor of the bowlers much, and hence, the players will have to be tactical during the match. 

Playing XI

India (Playing XI): Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson(w), Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav(c), Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Varun Chakaravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah

New Zealand (Playing XI): Tim Seifert(w), Finn Allen, Rachin Ravindra, Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Daryl Mitchell, James Neesham, Mitchell Santner(c), Matt Henry, Lockie Ferguson, Jacob Duffy

What did captains say?

Suryakumar Yadav: No, no, we're good (to bat first). We're happy to bat first. We were looking to bat. It's been working for us in the last game also. We played a similar kind of cricket. Red soil, so we're happy to bat first. I mean, always when you play a semi-final or a World Cup final, always it's good to have runs on board and you come out and defend. And the bowlers are doing a wonderful job as well. It feels good (to be defending champions). 

But at the same time, it's history now. It's a new World Cup. But see when you were obviously from 2023, but then yeah, we are very excited for it. It's special. You know, a game like this in front of 120,000. I mean, absolutely amazing. The game has not even started. It was just toss time and it looks full already. Hopefully we give them a good show tonight. Going with the same team.

Mitchell Santner: We are going to bowl first. Looks a good surface, a tinge of grass on it. So, I guess we'll see if it does anything at the top. And we know obviously India have a lot of power to try to restrict them to, I guess, a chaseable score. Boys are good (talking about the mood in the camp). I mean, this is what we play the game for. In front of obviously this many people, it's going to be awesome. 

It's going to be a great night and hopefully we can put in a good show. I mean, we knew that, you know, making the semis obviously a great occasion and then we had to put in a good performance against a very good team. And we did that, which was very pleasing. So guys can take a lot of, I guess, confidence from that. And we know we've got a massive challenge tonight, but we're looking forward to it.

Where to watch New Zealand vs India match?

Cricket fans in India can watch the New Zealand vs India match on March 8 online on JioHotstar, via OTTplay Premium.

Also read: Watch: Hardik Pandya introduces girlfriend Mahieka Sharma to Gautam Gambhir, coach’s reaction goes viral