T20 World Cup: Wouldn’t Mind Breaking Hearts to Win Trophy — Mitchell Santner

T20 World Cup 2026: New Zealand want to be known as the team winning hearts. They wan to win the trophy instead.

T20 World Cup 2026: Mitchell Santner is ready to break a few hearts. | India vs New Zealand, Final

(Photo: X)

New Zealand will be featuring in the final of an ICC knockout tournament. Again. For the fifth time in 11 years.

That, they are still not appropriately estimated in terms of their strength and brilliance, is bizarre. For, in the last decade, international cricket has barely seen a team as consistent as New Zealand.

Yet, they are also the team who rarely wins trophies.

Be it against Australia in the 2015 ODI World Cup or the 2021 T20 World Cup, against England in 2019 ODI World Cup or against India in the 2025 Champions Trophy — there has been a recurring theme. New Zealand have, in all of these occasions, lost in the finals. And in a harsh sport like cricket, not many remember who finished second.

For every heartbreak in the final, for every time a Kane Williamson appeared absolutely inconsolable, or a Brendan McCullum appeared lost for words, the narrative for consolation has been that the Kiwis have won hearts.

Perhaps, they have. It is for a reason that they have a sizeable section of fans in the subcontinent — especially India. Though, will they not be desperate to break some hearts for a change, be it a billion of them, and silence the crowd in Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium by defeating India in the final of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 on Sunday, 8 March?

The Quint asked this question to New Zealand’s captain, Mitchell Santner, in the pre-match press conference.

He told us:

I wouldn’t mind breaking a few hearts to lift the trophy for once. If you look at this group, and the groups we have had in the past, we have been pretty consistent in these tournaments because we try not to get overawed by the occasion or the opponents. We do our thing as a unit, and it has been no different this time. It is going to be a challenge (vs India). Everyone knows that we are not the favourites. But we don’t mind. We know that if we do our little things and put up a strong team performance, we will hopefully lift the trophy.

Mitchell Santner

'Mindset Is the Same'

On being asked about the mindset of the team ahead of the final, he said:

I think the mindset's the same. It's easy to say it's just another game but everyone knows it's probably not. But I think the way you go about it has to be the same whether it's your preparation, what that looks like on the day leading up to the game. And I think, it always comes down to a couple of moments, especially in T20 cricket, where if you can squeeze the opposition or take the advantage through there. I think we saw it the other night. I don't know, it always comes down to fielding at some stage, but if you can be very consistent in the way you approach the game with bearing a couple of moments where you could potentially be a little bit more ruthless or what that looks like, but I think - I don't think you have to reinvent the wheel. It's just you're making a final, you're coming up against another team who's also playing some pretty good cricket So it's never that easy.

Mitchell Santner

'The Goal Is to Silence the Crowd'

Ahead of the 2023 ODI World Cup final, Pat Cummins expressed his desire to silence the 1 lakh strong crowd at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, and he lived up to his word.

Santner, too, wants to replicate the same.

That's the goal, isn't it? To silence the crowd. I think that there is a lot of variables in T20 cricket and it is fickle at times. We've seen throughout the whole World Cup that a lot of teams are on similar pages and it comes down to some little moments in every game that changes the outcome. So I think England were very close to chasing that the other night We've seen South Africa playing very good cricket all the way through and then I guess had a little hiccup against us and you're out So I think for us it's taking confidence in that that we can If we go about our business the same way we can upset another big team and I think there's obviously a lot of pressure on India to win this World Cup at home. I mean it would be, I guess if we don't win it'd be pretty cool to win a home World Cup so I think that comes with a lot of added pressure as well. So if we can go out there and try to put, I guess, the added pressure on them and see what happens.

Mitchell Santner