Latest News

Triumph and disaster: India, New Zealand and a trophy for one

Published

1 month ago

2026/03/8

Priyan

Suryakumar Yadav is all smiles at his pre-final press conference [Cricinfo]

Call it beauty, call it cruelty, but this is the reality.

This Indian T20I unit is a GOAT team. They last lost a series or tournament in August 2023. Since the start of the previous T20 World Cup, they have won seven matches for every one they have lost. To the group that won the trophy in 2024 they have added Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Varun Chakravarthy and loads of intent.

India are so good that they have pivoted twice – first from Shubman Gill to Ishan Kishan just before this tournament began, then to bring back Sanju Samson during the tournament – and the pieces have seamlessly fallen in place.

Yet they won’t be viewed as the GOAT if they don’t win in Ahmedabad on Sunday. We don’t make the rules. This is how cricket works. Anything that involves more than two teams in cricket – even all the “leagues” – are a hybrid of league and knockout.

When you do that in the most fickle format of the sport, where it is the most difficult to establish an association between process and outcome, you can end up having the cagey campaign India have had. They are so good that they only have everything to lose in this tournament.

Kipling’s two impostors are more different for India than any other team. This is not to justify a lack of scientific temperament but there’s been an element of the obsessiveness to India’s journey through the T20 World Cup: regular visits to temples, avoiding training during a lunar eclipse, possible changing of hotels for the final. There aren’t enough controllables in this format, so you start trying to control whatever you can.

On the field, India have still done enough – though not at their absolute best – to make the final. Sanju Samson has found the form of his life, Jasprit Bumrah is still being “played out” even in chases of 254, and Hardik Pandya is the closest you get to two players in one.

Still, India don’t want to be anything less than their best against an opponent whose DNA is to care a lot but play like they don’t care at all. New Zealand don’t have mystery spin, they don’t have a Bumrah like genie , but they are dangerous because they can treat the two impostors almost the same. In India, November 19 is a day of mourning; for New Zealand, whatever happens on March 8 might not dominate conversation the following week.

Like India, New Zealand have also had to pivot, calling in a 34 year old mid-tournament, giving him the new ball, having him take out two dangerous left-hand batters and then not have him do anything for the rest of the semi-final. Since 2019, no team has made more ICC semi-finals than New Zealand’s six. Only India have made more finals than their four. Their best players don’t even want their national contracts; they encourage such a healthy workspace, let them play elsewhere most of the time, but put the band together for the big time.

New Zealand will not make the mistakes England’s bowlers made against India in the semi-final. They will have researched every batter and put plans in place, ready to execute. Now India could still be good enough to beat them, but they will not be fed.

Sunday will be tactical, it will be emotional, it will be full of skill and some luck, and by the end of the night, both teams will have to make peace with whatever impostor they draw. That is the reality of the game.

India have won every match except for the Super Eight contest against South Africa, after which they won the must-win games against Zimbabwe and West Indies, and then beat England in a high-scoring thriller in the semi-final.

New Zealand only barely made it to the semi-final, losing comprehensively to South Africa in the first round and to England in the Super Eight, but then they thrashed the unbeaten South Africans in the semi-final.

He didn’t end up as the Player of the Match in either of them, but Jasprit Bumrah repeated in the semi-final the work he did in the final two years ago. England had brought a chase of 254 down to 69 off the last five, but Bumrah bowled two of those overs for just 14 runs. If he can again put in a performance where New Zealand only take what is on offer, India should win.

Daryl Mitchell has had a quiet tournament. He hardly got to bat in the group stage and then had an ordinary Super Eight round on slower pitches in Sri Lanka. Having steered New Zealand to their first ODI series win in India in January, Mitchell will be vital to his team because he has scored at two a ball against Bumrah in internationals, and 10.18 per over overall. If he can impose on Bumrah a normal day at the T20 office, he will have gone a long way to helping New Zealand’s cause.

Abhishek will not be touched, but India have a Varun Chakravarthy problem. Eight of his leakiest spells in T20Is have come in the last two and a half months. Current form has higher weightage in T20 cricket than in other formats and Varun’s current form is 11.6 per over and four wickets since the start of the Super Eight round. The three alternatives are Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj and Washington Sundar in that order of likelihood because India won’t want to diminish their striking ability.

India (probable): Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wk), Ishan Kishan, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav (capt), Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakravarthy/Kuldeep Yadav/Mohammed Siraj

For New Zealand, the question is more about structure. They made do against South Africa with just three specialist bowlers, and James Neesham carded at No. 9. With the ball, Neesham went for 42 in three overs, and New Zealand were rescued by Rachin Ravindra’s four overs for 29 runs and two wickets, including that of David Miller, who mishit a slot ball and still got caught only just inside the boundary. You won’t always have such luck. Can New Zealand afford to play with the same structure against India? Jacob Duffy is a choice. Ish Sodhi might not be because the pitch in Ahmedabad is more suited to hit-the-deck bowlers than spinners.

New Zealand (probable): Tim Seifert (wk), Finn Allen, Rachin Ravindra, Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Daryl Mitchell, Mitchell Santner (capt), Cole McConchie, Jimmy Neesham/Jacob Duffy, Matt Henry, Lockie Ferguson

Mitchell Santner addresses the media before the T20 World Cup final [Cricinfo]

[Cricinfo]

All News Advertisement

Latest News

Advisory for Severe Lightning issued to the Western, Sabaragamuwa, Central, North-western, North-central, Southern, Uva provinces, and Mannar, Vavuniya, Ampara, Batticaloa districts

Published

3 hours ago

2026/04/21

Priyan

Advisory for Severe Lightning
Issued by the Natural Hazards Early Warning Centre
Issued at 12.00 noon 21 April 2026 valid for the period until 11.30 p.m. 21 April 2026

Thundershowers accompanied with severe lightning are likely to occur in the Western, Sabaragamuwa, Central, North-western, Northcentral, Southern, Uva provinces, and in Mannar, Vavuniya, Ampara, Batticaloa districts after 1.00 p.m.

There may be temporary localized strong winds during thundershowers. General public is kindly requested to take adequate precautions to minimize damages caused by lightning activity.

ACTION REQUIRED:

The Department of Meteorology advises that people should:
 Seek shelter, preferably indoors and never under trees.
 Avoid open areas such as paddy fields, tea plantations and open water bodies during thunderstorms.
 Avoid using wired telephones and connected electric appliances during thunderstorms.
 Avoid using open vehicles, such as bicycles, tractors and boats etc.
 Beware of fallen trees and power lines.
 For emergency assistance contact the local disaster management authorities

Latest News

US, Iran exchange threats as fragile ceasefire set to expire

Published

3 hours ago

2026/04/21

Priyan

The temporary ceasefire between the US and Iran is set to expire before a resolution as tension grows between the countries [Aljazeera]

Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf has said Iran is “prepared to reveal new cards on the battlefield” after United States President Donald Trump threatened Tehran with “problems like they’ve never seen before” if the two-week ceasefire expires on Wednesday without a deal.

The war of words comes as the second round of US-Iran peace talks scheduled to take place this week in Pakistan remains in limbo after the US and Iranian flagged vessel near the Strait of Hormuz over the weekend, angering Iranian authorities and provoking another surge in global oil prices.

Reporting from Tehran, Al Jazeera’s Tohid Asadi said, “There is no official confirmation on whether Iran is going to take part in talks in Islamabad.”

“We know that Iran has tried to keep the door ajar to diplomacy, so there is still a possibility,” he added.

In an overnight post on X, Ghalibaf expressed anger at Trump for “imposing a siege and violating the ceasefire”.

“We do not accept negotiations under the shadow of threats, and in the past two weeks, we have prepared to reveal new cards on the battlefield,” he said.

This was a “mixed message”, according to Asadi, “saying Iran is ready for negotiations but not under terms imposed by the US”.

“There will be no easy negotiations, if, of course, they even happen, as there are still several complicated sticking points. Both sides have a long list of demands, including relating to the Strait of Hormuz, sanctions, war reparations, ballistic missiles and Iran’s regional relations,” Asadi said.

Meanwhile, Trump said he was confident that Iran would negotiate, adding that the country would otherwise “see problems”.

He told PBS News on Monday that if the ceasefire expires without a deal, then “lots of bombs start going off”.

[Aljazeera]

Latest News

Six Foreign Envoys Present Credentials to President Dissanayake

Published

5 hours ago

2026/04/21

Priyan

Two High Commissioners, three Ambassadors and an Apostolic Nuncio-designate of the Holy See presented their credentials to President Anura Kumara Dissanayake at the Presidential Secretariat this morning (20).

The ceremony, held at 10.00 a.m., followed the formal order of precedence, with the envoys representing Papua New Guinea, Somalia, Luxembourg, the Holy See, Pakistan and Kuwait.

Accordingly, diplomats who presented their credentials were:

01. Vincent Sumale, High Commissioner-designate of Papua New Guinea (Based in New Delhi)

02. Abdullahi Mohammed Odowa, Ambassador-designate of Somalia (Based in New Delhi)

03. Christian Biever, Ambassador-designate of Luxembourg (Based in New Delhi)

04. Monsignor Andrzej Józwowicz, Apostolic Nuncio-designate of the Holy See

05. Major General (Retd) Nayyar Naseer, High Commissioner-designate of Pakistan

06. Saleh Mubarak Al-Sarawi, Ambassador-designate of Kuwait

Following the presentation of credentials, the President engaged in a cordial discussion with them. The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism, Vijitha Herath, and the Secretary to the President, Dr Nandika Sanath Kumanayake, were also in attendance.