"Plan of 1.4 Billion Indians": Coach Gautam Gambhir hails India's T20 WC 2026 victory

Ahmedabad (Gujarat) [India], March 9 (ANI): Indian men's cricket team head coach Gautam Gambhir hailed the team's T20 World Cup 2026 win, saying it reflected the "plan of 1.4 billion Indians" after he coached the Men in Blue to a 96-run victory over New Zealand in the final on Sunday at Ahmedabad's Narendra Modi Stadium.
Under Suryakumar Yadav's captaincy, India thrashed New Zealand, led by Mitchell Santner, in the T20 WC 2026 final to successfully defend their T20 World Cup title. The victory made India the first team to win the T20 World Cup on home soil, the first to win consecutive titles after their 2024 win, and the first to lift the trophy three times (2007, 2024, 2026).
In a post on X, Gautam Gambhir celebrated every player of the team as a world champion, saying, "This wasn't just God's plan, it was the plan of 1.4 Billion Indians! Each player a WORLD CHAMPION!"
Gambhir continues to build a hefty resume in white-ball cricket with the T20 World Cup title win. Gambhir, with a Champions Trophy 2025, Asia Cup 2025 and T20 World Cup title, has built quite a solid resume as an Indian head coach, alongside an Indian Premier League (IPL) title with Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) as a mentor. Having won the T20 World Cup, the 50-over World Cup, the Asia Cup and IPL during his playing days, the Delhi-born has carved out quite a heavy list of accomplishments for himself.
In the India vs New Zealand match, Mitchell Santner won the toss and elected for New Zealand to field first. However, a return-to-form fifty from Abhishek Sharma (52 in 21 balls, with six fours and three sixes) and his 98-run stand with Samson made NZ regret the decision. Later, Samson stitched a century stand with Ishan Kishan (54 in 25 balls, with four boundaries and four sixes) to take India past the 200-run mark in the 16th over. After a brief slowdown, Shivam Dube (26* in eight balls, with three fours and two sixes) made some valuable runs to take India to 255/5, the highest total in T20WC finals.
James Neesham (3/46) was the leading wicket-taker for NZ.
In the run-chase of 256 runs, Axar Patel (3/23) and Jasprit Bumrah (4/15) reduced the Kiwis to 72/5, despite a half-century from Tim Seifert (52 in 26 balls, with two fours and five sixes). Despite a brief partnership between Daryl Mitchell (17) and skipper Mitchell Santner (43 in 35 balls, with three fours and two sixes), India kept chipping in with wickets, and the Kiwis were bundled out for just 159 runs. (ANI)