Mumbai, Nov 25 (IANS) Till a few years back, every Indian cricketer and fans would love to see the country win an ICC tournament by beating Pakistan in the final. The scenario has changed now and India T20 captain Suryakumar Yadav on Tuesday said in an ideal situation, he would love to lift aloft the Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 by beating Australia in the summit clash.
Asked by the host to pick a team that India would like, in a hypothetical situation, to overcome in the final to lift the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026, Surya named Australia. “If it is the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad and the final, I would like India to beat Australia and win the title,” said Surya at the event got up by the ICC to unveil the full schedule of the upcoming T20 World Cup to be jointly-hosted by India and Sri Lanka.
The burgeoning rivalry between India and Australia apart, the other reason that SKY wants India to meet Australia in the final of the T20 World Cup is that he wants to exact revenge for India’s defeat to the Kangaroos in the final of the Men’s ODI World Cup 2023 at the same venue.
Harmanpreet Kaur, who recently spearheaded India to the Women’s ODI World Cup title in the nearby Navi Mumbai also wanted India to beat Australia to lift the title. She said the recently developing rivalry between India and Australia makes it an exciting contest and winning against a strong team gives a different pleasure. Harmanpreet Kaur’s Indian women’s team had defeated Australia in the semifinal before going on to overcome South Africa in the final to win the Women’s ODI World Cup last month.
However, Rohit Sharma, who captained India in the 50-over World Cup final defeat to Australia in 2023 but went on to guide the team to triumph in the T20 World Cup in 2024, said he wants India to win the title, whichever the opposition.
“I agree with Surya when he says the rivalries have changed and also that beating Australia in the final would be ideal but my wish is for India to win the title, the opponent could be anyone,” said Rohit Sharma, who was unveiled as the ICC Brand Ambassador for the event on Tuesday.
All three India captains admitted that winning the title will be challenging as the field has expanded to 20 teams and T20 is a format in which any team can cause an upset on their day.
Harmanpreet Kaur talked about her experience of winning the title at home and hoped the men’s team would also go on an do the same. She said her team benefitted a lot from the support of the fans when it had landed in a Cup 2025 after losing three matches in a row. “The fans have always supported us at home and it was nice to see so many people coming out to watch the women’s team play,” she said.
–IANS
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