Ahmedabad, March 7 (IANS) New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner said the BlackCaps would not mind playing the role of the villains if it means silencing the home crowd and lifting the trophy in the final of the ICC T20 World Cup 2026 against India to be played at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Sunday.

New Zealand have been one of the most consistent teams in ICC white-ball tournaments in recent years. This is their fifth appearance in an ICC white-ball final in the last 11 years. However, none of their previous four appearances ended with a trophy. Because of this, the narrative around the team has often been that New Zealand are a group of good guys who may not always win trophies but win hearts.

When asked if the team was ready to become the “bad guys” and break a billion Indian hearts by winning the title, Santner said the team is prepared to do whatever it takes to lift the trophy.

“I wouldn’t mind winning a trophy. But yeah, I think that’s, you know, you look at this group and the groups that have been in the past, you know, we are pretty consistent in these tournaments because we try not to get, you know, overruled by the situation or opponents. We just go out there and do our thing,” he said during the pre-match press conference.

“And as a unit, it’s been no different this time. And again, it’s going to be obviously a challenge where everyone knows we’re probably not the favourites, 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, I wouldn’t mind breaking a few hearts to lift the trophy for once,” he added.

Santner also admitted that he has not yet seen the pitch but expects a high-scoring contest. “Yeah, I mean, I haven’t had a look at the wicket yet. It’s still undercover, but one can only assume it’s going to be pretty flat and high scoring,” he said.

The New Zealand captain also praised Indian pacer Jasprit Bumrah, who has been in outstanding form during the tournament and played a key role in India’s semi-final win against the England cricket team with a brilliant spell.

“So I think, yeah, and in terms of Bumrah, I think he should be in everyone’s conversation, the way he’s been going. Yeah, I think England, yeah, looks pretty hard to hit. And he was obviously the game changer for India the other night. But we knew that was going to be the case. He’s obviously a world-class bowler,” he said.

–IANS

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