Suryakumar Yadav Responds to Mitchell Santner Ahead of ICC Men's T20 World Cup Final

Fans are waiting for the big final match between India and New Zealand in the T20 World Cup 2026. As usual, pre-match tension and mind games are in full swing before the big match. New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner’s comment sparked a response from Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav.

India is high on confidence to play the final after scoring 253/7 against England in the semi-final match held at the Wankhede Stadium in India. But New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner says the key to their victory is to prevent India from scoring another high total in this big final match. He said that if the wicket is going to be flat like last night, we might have a better chance by trying to restrict India to 220 instead of 250.

When Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav was questioned about Santner's statement, he smiled and replied, "He's lying. We will try to bat well. If we score 225 or 250, it will be good. But sometimes the wicket is different and we have to play differently. We don't assume from the dressing room that we have to score that much." Whatever the pitch demands, we have to play accordingly.

Santner also talked about the pressure India might feel playing the final in front of a home crowd. Their goal is to silence the crowd. "I think there's a lot of pressure on India to win at home. I'm very excited. We've played here before. There's no secret to it."

Santner's comments reminded many of Pat Cummins' comments before the 2023 ODI World Cup final, in which he talked about silencing the crowd. Meanwhile, before the semi-final against England, Sam Curran also claimed to have silenced the crowd. Suryakumar also poked fun at him, saying, "Everyone's repeating the same line. Say something new."