New Delhi: India will take on New Zealand in theT20 World Cup 2026 final at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday, March 8. Suryakumar and Co. qualified for the final after defeating England by 7 runs in a thrilling semifinal match at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

Sanju Samson struck 89 runs off 41 balls to help India post a massive 253/7 in 20 overs. The Men in Blue now have the chance to become the first team to defend a T20 World Cup title. The Kiwis, meanwhile, are looking to clinch their maiden T20 World Cup title.

The Blackcaps registered a dominating nine-wicket win in the first semi-final against South Africa in Kolkata. New Zealand restricted the Proteas men to 168/8 before Tim Seifert and Finn Allen added 117 runs for the first wicket to seal the massive victory. Here’s a look at India’s predicted XI for the T20 World Cup final against New Zealand.

Kuldeep Yadav to replace Varun Chakaravarthy

Varun Chakravarthy has been struggling to take wickets and has conceded a lot of runs in the recent T20 World Cup matches. He has picked up just four wickets in the last four games of the tournament. In the semifinal match against England, he took just one wicket and gave away 64 runs at an economy rate of 16.

Kuldeep Yadav has a good record against New Zealand, taking 9 wickets in 8 T20I matches at an impressive economy rate of 7.64. According to reports, the centre pitch of the Narendra Modi Stadium will be used for the final clash, and it will be a mixed soil pitch. Looking at recent form, the team management might decide to replace him with Kuldeep.

Rinku in place of Abhishek?

Abhishek Sharma’s lean patch continued in the T20 World Cup 2026 semifinal as the opener scored just 9 runs in Mumbai. The world No.1 batter has amassed just 89 runs in seven matches, hitting just one fifty in the tournament. His constant failure at the top has been putting extra pressure on the middle and lower order.

It is highly unlikely that Abhishek will be dropped from the playing XI in the final. However, if the management decides to drop him, he might be replaced by Rinku Singh, who will bat in the lower order. In that case, Tilak will bat at No. 3, while Kishan will open with Sanju.

India’s predicted XI: Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav(c), Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy/ Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah.