India look to become the first side in history to defend their T20 World Cup title when they face a fierce rival in New Zealand in the 2026 T20 World Cup final at Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium on Sunday. Having won the 2024 T20 World Cup in the USA and the Caribbean islands, India are also eyeing to become the first team to lift this blistering trophy at home.
The Men in Blue are the first team to enter the final of a T20 World Cup as a defending champion. This is India’s fourth appearance in the T20 World Cup final, the most by any side. In the previous three finals, India have won twice, while they were handed a loss on one occasion.
Check what happened each time India qualified for the T20 World Cup final:
The inaugural edition of the T20 World Cup was triumphed by a not-so-enigmatic side, led by a not-so-famous name back then, MS Dhoni, who marshalled his team to a famous win in September 2007 to put on some relief after the 2007 ODI World Cup group stage exit. India defeated Pakistan in the final by just five runs in a last-over thriller at Johannesburg. Gautam Gambhir top-scored with 75, while Irfan Pathan’s three-wicket haul and a disciplined bowling effort restricted Pakistan to 152.
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The match went down to the final ball, with India holding their nerve to clinch a memorable victory and announce themselves as champions in the very first edition of the tournament.
Sri Lanka finally shed their reputation as the nearly men by winning the 2014 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, beating India by six wickets in the final in Bangladesh to deny the Men in Blue their second T20 World Cup title. In the final, it was the exceptional death bowling show from Lasith Malinga and Nuwan Kulasekara that restricted India to an under-par 130-4 and an unbeaten 52 off 35 balls from Kumar Sangakkara saw his side home.
Virat Kohli slammed a half-century with 77 off 58 in India’s innings and finished the tournament as the leading run-scorer with 319 at an impressive average of 106.33.
The wait for the second T20 World Cup title for India finally came to an end after 16 years when Rohit Sharma-led side edged out South Africa by just seven runs in a thrilling contest at Bridgetown, Barbados. Invited to bat first, India posted a competitive 176-7, riding on Kohli’s composed – another half-century in a T20 World Cup final – 76 and valuable contributions from and .
In response, the Proteas seemed in control at one stage, needing 30 off 30, before a sensational bowling effort led by and triggered a dramatic collapse. Eventually, South Africa fell short by seven runs, handing India their second T20 World Cup title and ending an 11-year ICC trophy drought.
