Ahmedabad: Remember the buildup to the 2023 ODI World Cup final at the Narendra Modi Stadium?
Hosts India were in red-hot form, winning all their 10 matches en route to the title clash. Standing in their way was the Australians, who lost their first two games before turning it around.
Rohit Sharma’s men were the favourites to lift the trophy at a venue where nearly 120,000 people would be screaming for the blood of Pat Cummins-led Australia.
On the eve of the final, the Australian captain said it would be immensely satisfying to silence the massive crowd.
And silence they did. Dismissing the in-form team for 240, Australia raced to victory with 7 overs and 6 wickets to spare.
Now, New Zealand want to do the same thing: silence the Ahmedabad crowd with a “strong team performance” in Sunday’s T20 World Cup final. New Zealand are eyeing their maiden T20 World Cup crown, while India are looking to be the first team to clinch back-to-back titles (third overall).
Issuing a Cummins-like warning, New Zealand skipper Mitchell Santner said at the match-eve press conference that he won’t mind breaking a few hearts at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Sunday.
“It’s obviously a challenge. Everyone knows we’re probably not the favourite, but we don’t mind, we know we can if we do our little things well and put in a strong team performance, you know, put us in a pretty good position to hopefully lift the trophy. But yeah, one might break a few hearts to lift the trophy for once,” said Mitchell Santner at the press conference.
Having taken a lot of confidence from the thrashing of high-flying South Africa in the first semifinal, Santner said their aim will be on silencing the Ahmedabad crowd.
“Yeah, I guess that’s the goal. To silence the crowd, but I think that there are a lot of variables in T20 cricket, and it is fickle at times. And we’ve seen throughout the whole World Cup that a lot of teams are on similar pages, and it comes down to some little moments in every game that change the outcome,” said Santner.
Suryakumar responds to Santner’s ‘silence home crowd’ remark: Everybody says same line
India captain Suryakumar Yadav aka SKY played down Santner’s wish to silence the home crowd, saying that such statements have become predictable before big matches.
When asked about Santner’s remark, Suryakumar Yadav responded with a wry smile, suggesting that such comments from opposition teams have now become predictable before big matches.
“Sab hi same line chipka rahe hai. Kuch to naya bolo (Everyone is now saying the same thing. Come up with something new),” SKY said at Saturday’s presser.
The 35-year-old did acknowledge that leading the team in a World Cup final comes with its own pressure. However, he was determined to embrace the occasion and enjoy the moment.
“As a leader, there would be pressure… I cannot deny that. Definitely, there would be added pressure, the excitement is there of playing a World Cup final, that too in India,” Suryakumar added.
“It’s a special feeling and everyone is very excited. We have a very good environment in the group. We are looking forward to the big final,” SKY added.
