Former Pakistan quick Mohammad Amir was visibly furious and blasted New Zealand skipper Mitchell Santner, accusing him of handing the ICC T20 World Cup crown straight to India after the Black Caps went down by 96 runs in the summit clash at the Narendra Modi Stadium. India clinched their third title with a commanding performance.
India scripted history by becoming the first side to clinch consecutive T20 World Cup titles and lift the trophy on home turf for the first time. The triumph was secured after the Men in Blue posted a formidable 255 on the board in the final.
After winning the toss, New Zealand chose to field first. The Black Caps made a surprising change, leaving out spinner Cole McConchie in favour of Jacob Duffy. The gamble looked questionable, especially given Abhishek Sharma’s early struggles against off-spin in the powerplay. Adding to their woes, Glenn Phillips bowled just a solitary over upfront, and the decision to go ahead with the pace attack backfired spectacularly.
Abhishek and Sanju Samson set the tone early, with Sharma blasting a blistering 50 off just 18 balls. By the time he departed, India had seized the initiative, and Ishan Kishan kept the momentum going. Though New Zealand struck thrice in a single over, Shivam Dube’s fiery 26 off 8 balls pushed India past 250, and the Black Caps crumbled to 159, handing India a 96-run victory.
“Full credit to the New Zealand bowlers, but they were giving away too many wides and getting punished with sixes. I’m not saying India doesn’t deserve the win, but I couldn’t make sense of the bowling rotations. If you know Abhishek Sharma has trouble against spin, why would you bring in Jacob Duffy?” Amir said on the ‘Haarna Mana Hai’ show.
“I’ve never seen New Zealand handle so much pressure. I’ve been following them since 2005, and this was completely unprecedented,” he added.
Amir also said that India showed the world that tournaments can be won by batters as well, and that it is no longer the case that fast bowlers are the ultimate gamechangers in an ICC event.
“I have to hand it to India. They’ve shattered the idea that only fast bowlers win you tournaments and the batters can do it too, and they proved it. In both the semi-final and final, on flat wickets, they crossed 250 easily,” he mentioned.
Jasprit Bumrah stole the show in the final, bagging 4 wickets for just 15 runs in his four-over spell to earn the Player of the Match award. Sanju Samson walked away with the Player of the Tournament honour after amassing 321 runs in five outings, including a sensational 89 in the title clash against New Zealand.