India and New Zealand are locking horns in the final of the T20 World Cup today at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. New Zealand captain, Mitchell Santner won the toss and opoted to bowl and as soon as the playing XIs were announced, a section of fans were surprised not to see Kane Williamson in their playing XI. The veteran cricketer is not an active player in T20Is anymore, having announced his retirement from the format in November last year.
In fact, he last played for New Zealand in the shortest in the previous edition of the T20 World Cup and missed every game after that. Eventually, he called time on his T20I career after playing 93 matches and scoring 2575 runs at an average of 33.44 with 18 fifties to his name. He led New Zealand in 75 matches, including T20 World Cup semifinal appearances in 2016 and 2022 and the final in 2021. However, the team has moved from his absence and settled in on a perfect XI that has taken them to the final of the ongoing edition.
Playing XIs
India (Playing XI): Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson(w), Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav(c), Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Varun Chakaravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah
New Zealand (Playing XI): Tim Seifert(w), Finn Allen, Rachin Ravindra, Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Daryl Mitchell, James Neesham, Mitchell Santner(c), Matt Henry, Lockie Ferguson, Jacob Duffy
What did captains say at the toss?
New Zealand took a big call to leave out off-spinning all-rounder Cole McConchie and preferred Jacob Duffy in their playing XI. Santner also had no hesitation in opting to bowl first. "We are going to bowl first. Looks pretty good. We will see if it does anything and try and restrict them to a chasable score. Boys are good. This is why we are playing. It did. Great occasion, the semifinal and the guys will take confidence from that. This is biggest stage and everyone is ready. No McConchie, Duffy is playing," Santner said.
Meanwhile, Suryakumar Yadav was happy to bat first as well, as he felt runs on the board in a big final will be crucial. "Happy to bat first since we have been doing that pretty well. Always good to have runs on the board in the semifinal or a final. It's history now, new World Cup and we are excited for it. It looks fully already and it's only toss time and hopefully we will give them a good show," Surya said.
