"Indian team have my blessings to win World Cup": Ishan Kishan's grandfather after India's semifinal win

Aurangabad (Bihar) [India], March 6 (ANI): Indian star cricketer Ishan Kishan's grandfather, Anurag Pandey, on Friday expressed happiness over Team India reaching the T20 World Cup 2026 final after their seven-run win over England in the semifinal held at Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium on Thursday. He also gave his blessings to the Men in Blue to win the final and retain the T20 World Cup title.
Ishan Kishan, along with Sanju Samson (89 runs off 42 balls), gave India a blistering start, which helped them score 253/7 in 20 overs. Ishan scored 39 runs in 18 balls, including four boundaries and two sixes.
Speaking to ANI, Ishan Kishan's grandfather said that the cricketer's 39 off 18 was a decent effort, though he hoped for a bigger score. He expressed happiness over India reaching the final, prayed for a win against New Zealand as well, and gave his blessings to the entire team--especially Ishan Kishan and Abhishek Sharma--to score big in the final.
"While it's not very good as he should have scored over 50 runs, 39 off 18 balls is decent too. I am very happy that the Indian team has reached the finals now. Now, I pray that India wins the final against New Zealand in Ahmedabad and become the T20 World Cup 2026 winners," Anurag Pandey said.
"The whole Indian team have my blessings to win the World Cup. I would like to say to Ishan Kishan that he scored big runs in the finals and help Team India win the match. Not only Ishan, to everyone, actually; Abhishek too has my blessings to hit a big score," he added.
Defending champions India, captained by Suryakumar Yadav, defeated England by seven runs in a high-scoring thriller to book their place in the final of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026 against New Zealand.
A blistering 89 off 42 balls from Sanju Samson laid the foundation for India's huge total of 253/7 in the first innings. However, England stayed in contention for most of the chase thanks to a brilliant century by Jacob Bethell.
In the end, it was the brilliance of Jasprit Bumrah that proved to be the differentiating moment as India eventually won the match by a slim seven-run margin.
Put to bat first, a fiery knock from Sanju Samson (89* in 42 balls, with eight fours and seven sixes) and cameos from Shivam Dube (43 in 25 balls, with a four and four sixes), Ishan Kishan's 39, Hardik Pandya (27 in 12 balls, with three fours and two sixes) and Tilak Varma (21 in seven balls, with three sixes) took India to 253/7 in 20 overs.
Despite having England down at 95/4, India could not dominate them as Jacob Bethell (105 in 48 balls, with eight fours and seven sixes) and Will Jacks (35 in 20 balls, with four boundaries and two sixes) put a counter-attacking 77-run stand for the fifth wicket.
With England appearing to be on course for victory, the match's turning point came when Jasprit Bumrah delivered a brilliant 18th over, conceding just six runs while England needed 45 from the final three overs at the start of it. Following his effort, Hardik Pandya further tightened the pressure with an excellent penultimate over, giving away only nine runs and dismissing Sam Curran.
While Bethell continued to march on and a fiery four-ball cameo of 19 from Jofra Archer took England really close, England ended seven runs short of India's target, at 246/7.
For India, Jasprit Bumrah (1/33 in 4 overs), Axar Patel (1/35 in 3 overs) and Hardik Pandya (2/38 in 4 overs) were the standout performers with the ball.
The final is set to take place in Ahmedabad, where India will look to continue their impressive run and secure another major ICC title by defeating New Zealand at the Narendra Modi Stadium on March 8. (ANI)