Virender Sehwag turns 41, cricket fraternity extends wishes

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) enter the new season as defending champions, having defeated Punjab Kings by six runs in the 2025 edition's summit clash held in Ahmedabad.

Former Indian cricketer and Rajya Sabha MP, Harbhajan Singh, criticised Trinamool Congress MP and 1983 Cricket World Cup winning team member Kirti Azad for questioning the Indian team leadership group of skipper Suryakumar Yadav, head coach Gautam Gambhir and International Cricket Council (ICC) chairman Jay Shah for taking the T20 World Cup 2026 trophy to a temple following the team's win on Sunday in Amhedabad.

Team India made it back-to-back in the T20 World Cup, beating New Zealand by 96 runs to secure their third T20 World Cup title, a record-breaking one. With this, they have become the first-ever team to defend the title and also win it as a home side.

It was another dominant performance for Team India as top-order exploits from Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson and Ishan Kishan and brilliant spells from Axar Patel and Jasprit Bumrah helped Team India become the first home nation to win the T20 World Cup title, beating New Zealand by 96 runs at Ahmedabad's Narendra Modi Stadium, at the same venue where India had lost the ICC Cricket World Cup title in 2023 after a 10-match dominant run.

Samson scripted a comeback for ages, as he overcame poor form and exclusion from the playing eleven to shine when everything was at stake. Having scored just 46 runs in five innings against NZ before this tournament, Samson lost his place in the team to Ishan Kishan. When a leftie-dominant top-order was struggling against off-spin, destiny handed Sanju a second chance and he grabbed it with every inch of life he had in his hands. Right from the virtual quarterfinal against West Indies to the title clash against New Zealand, Samson mesmerised one and all with his tidy strokeplay, timing and broke records to join legends like Virat Kohli, Shahid Afridi, etc. in the history books of the T20 World Cup.