ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026: New Zealand win toss and put India into bat, defending champions remain unchanged

New Zealand skipper Mitchell Santner has won the all-important toss in the summit clash of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup final and put India into bat. New Zealand have made one change to their playing XI that played in the first semifinal against South Africa at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata, with right-arm seamer Jacob Duffy coming in for off-spinner Cole McConchie.

On the contrary, Team India have announced an unchanged XI for the marquee clash, putting an end to all the speculation surrounding Varun Chakravarthy's place in the XI.

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Varun has been struggling for rhythm since the turn of the Super Eight stage. He was taken for 47 runs in the game against South Africa, went wicketless and conceded 35 in his four overs against Zimbabwe, was taken for 40 and 64 runs respectively against West Indies and England in the last two encounters without a scalp.

However, the Indian team management has thrown its weight behind the No.1 ranked T20I bowler in the ICC rankings.

India have also decided to stick with their opener Abhishek Sharma, who is going through a horrid run in the tournament. Abhishek has managed just 89 runs in the tournament thus far at a strike rate of 130.88 and an average of 12.71, with a fifty-plus score (55) coming against Zimbabwe during the Super Eight stage.

The Men in Blue have never beaten the Kiwis at the T20 World Cup, and therefore, the Mitchell Santner-led side comes in with a psychological edge.

India (Playing XI): Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wK), 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 (wK), Finn Allen, Rachin Ravindra, Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Daryl Mitchell, James Neesham, Mitchell Santner (c), Matt Henry, Lockie Ferguson, Jacob Duffy