Mitchell Santner said New Zealand will not hesitate to “break a few hearts” when they face India in the final of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup on Sunday.
New Zealand will take on defending champions India at the Narendra Modi Stadium, where more than 100,000 fans are expected to attend the match.
New Zealand reached the final of the 2021 edition but lost to Australia and are still chasing their first white-ball World Cup title.
“I wouldn’t mind winning a trophy,” Santner said.
He added: “It’s going to be obviously a challenge where everyone knows we’re probably not the favourites.
“But yeah, I wouldn’t mind breaking a few hearts to lift the trophy for once.”
Santner recalled how Australia, led by Pat Cummins, defeated India in the final of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 in Ahmedabad.
“I guess that’s the goal, is to silence the crowd,” said Santner.
Wary of Bumrah
Santner said the New Zealand team will have discussions about how to deal with Jasprit Bumrah ahead of the final.
Bumrah has performed well in the tournament and played a key role during India’s semi-final against England .
“Bumrah, yeah, I think he should be in everyone’s conversation, the way he has been going. Against England, he looked pretty hard to hit. And he was obviously the game changer for India the other night,” Santner said when asked about what kind of conversations the think-tank is having with regard to Bumrah.
However, Santner said New Zealand cannot focus only on Bumrah because several Indian players have stepped up at different times during the tournament.
“We knew that was (Bumrah performing) always going to be the case. He’s obviously a world-class bowler. But, you know, not just him, everyone has stepped up (for India) at different times. And as a team, that’s where you want to be,” the Black Caps skipper said.