New Zealand Cricket put out a touching message from captain Mitchell Santner for folks back ahead of their 2026 T20 World Cup final against India at the Narendra Modi Stadium. Addressing “Aotearoa”, the traditional Maori name for the country, Santner implored the fans to set their alarm clocks and get fans around the team one more time.
The final will start at 7.30pm IST, which translates to 2.30am in New Zealand. “BlackCaps captain Mitch Santner here. Sorry to disturb you on a Sunday,” says the statement from Santner. “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 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.
A message to Aotearoa from captain Mitchell Santner ✉️
— BLACKCAPS (@BLACKCAPS)
“But that’s all good – because we know back home you’ll have our backs. 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…Mitch and the BLACKCAPS”
Santner admitted earlier in the pre-match press conference that they will be the clear underdogs from the point of view of support in the stands but, similar to what Australia captain Pat Cummins had said before the 2023 World Cup, he said he wouldn’t mind breaking a few hearts out there.
“We just go out there and do our thing as a unit. It’s been no different this time. And again, it’s going to be obviously a challenge where everyone knows we’re probably not the favourites. But we don’t mind. But yeah, I wouldn’t mind breaking a few hearts to lift the trophy for once,” Santner said in the pre-match press conference on Saturday.
“It’s easy to say it’s just another game, but everyone knows it’s probably not. The way you go about it has to be the same, whether it’s your preparation, what that looks like on the day, leading up to the game,” he added.
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India’s last World Cup final at the Narendra Modi Stadium had famously ended in heartbreak. They had bulldozed their way to the final of the ODI World Cup in 2023 but once there, Australia completely outplayed them in all departments and won the match by six wickets. Rohit Sharma and Co. then made amends for that heartbreak by winning the 2024 T20 World Cup and now, under the captaincy of , India are looking to become the first team to succesfully defend the trophy. New Zealand, on the other hand, stand a chance at winning just their third ICC title after the 2000 Champions Trophy, then known as the ICC KnockOut Trophy, and the 2021 World Test Championship final.
