Final

B0$ (On his role) It was always there to hit some big sixes. That was my role since the first day of this tournament. And yeah, sometimes it happens. Some other batsmen are there when they go up. But yes, I always back myself and think that whenever I get the opportunity, I will hit some sixes. (On his bowling) I've developed a lot, but yeah, I have not bowled this tournament. But yes, I'm going to come better next time. (Celebrating long into the week?) Definitely, it's one of the biggest days today and the crowd was amazing. This tournament belongs to the supporters of Indian cricket team. The prayers and I think we have got that love which supported us a lot in the bad situations. I think all credit goes to all the Indian cricket team supporters.

B0$ “Nothing much, I just went to say sorry to Mitchell. My throw reverse-swung a bit too much and it hit his body, so I told him that I didn’t hit him intentionally. I don’t really know what the emotion feels like right now, sir. At the moment it feels good because we’re winning, but in two or three days we’ll know when the emotions sink in, how it actually feels. And it’s a fantastic team, there are match-winners everywhere in this team, so there was belief from the start that we would perform well, and whatever the result is, that’s just the topping on the cake. The role of the bowlers is that if the batsmen are scoring 250, then you have to stop them below 250, that’s the role we kept for ourselves. And if we bowl first, then try to restrict them to as low as possible and give the batters a chance to play freely. (on what reels he has planned for?) I’ll go upstairs and bring my phone now, I’ve thought of ten or fifteen reels, let’s see how many we make. But it’s been great, I enjoyed it a lot.”

B0$ Feels amazing. Two back-to-back ICC trophies and it feels very surreal. I’m very happy for Abhishek. He was able to score today and he used to sit next to me and we used to have good time, yeah. We used to keep changing seats. We are like, what’s happening? Nothing is working out for us. And finally, we have won the cup. So everything is zeroed out, yeah.

B0$ I mean, of course, (Was there ever a feeling, why is this happening to me? - Talking about the string of low scores) but the one thing was very clear. I wanted to share before as well, but today was the best day to tell about this thing that the coach and the captain, they had the faith in me. And, even I was doubting myself because it was not an easy tournament for me. I’ve never experienced this before, but still playing the first World Cup. Everyone was so, so much into me that you’re going to win one game, one big game, one big game. So I was just doing my process, but it wasn’t that easy as a young player or probably you’ve just been one or two years in the Indian team and then going through this phase. But I think I just love this team, the way they treated me in those days. It was, I’ve never felt it before. I mean, I’ve told you before as well (how does it feel now to be standing up on something that must have been a dream for you), it wasn’t that easy for me because, you know, going through the whole year, you’ve been doing well for the team and especially on the big occasion. I wasn’t able to do well, but the faith and the confidence, I think players and support staff and coaches showed on me. I think I got emotional in between the tournament as well because if you see that I wanted to do really well for in all the games probably, but I couldn’t. But then I was like, I wanted to talk to coach or captain. They always wanted to come to me and just say one thing, you are, you’re gonna win us the big games. And I just wanted to wait for that day and you can’t ask for the better day for this.

More reactions after the flash interviews are done. SKY, Axar, Tilak, Siraj and Kuldeep sign on the cameras. Then SKY hugs a few people. There are a lot of kids alongside the Indian players. Tilak and SKY high-five a little girl. Lots of flash interviews happening as well as the post-match stuff to follow. We will bring them all to you. Do stay tuned....

B0$ Ishan came running in to climb on Tilak. Pandya is seen with arms outstretched as he looks towards the crowd. Jay Shah hugs MS Dhoni. Then the dugout rose and hugged with Gambhir and Kotak embracing. Axar went to Samson to congratulate. SKY and the others celebrate. SKY sweeps the pitch with his hand. Ishan hugs SKY. Hardik has an Indian flag in his hand and so do Rinku and Siraj. Dube and Tilak with a stump each as souvenirs. Fireworks go above the night sky. Kids in their whites run on to the field with the Indian flags in their hands. The post-match handshakes follow. Gambhir is hugged by Pandya, SKY and the others. Santner manages a smile. Pandya does a little jig with the flag wrapped behind his back. He blows a kiss to someone in the crowd. SKY and Pandya pose together for the cameras with their Indian flags. Vande Mataram and Chak De India is being played as the crowd lap it all up.

B0$ First team to win it at home. First team to win it back to back. And the first team to win it three times. They came in as favourites, and they've lived up to that tag in style. Rarely do you see the kind of domination in T20 cricket that Suryakumar Yadav's team has been able to achieve. A win percentage of close to 80 over a two-year period. It's unheard of. No one deserves the trophy more than this bunch of players who have made winning a habit in a format that is notorious for its unpredictability. Today it was one-way traffic all the way through with New Zealand never getting a foothold in the game once the Indian openers went on a rampage. Both Samson and Abhishek took the final by storm, smashing 92 in the powerplay and repaying the faith that the management has shown in them at different points. Was the third consecutive fifty for Samson for whom the wait has been worth every moment of his life. Abhishek, on the other hand, smashed an 18-ball fifty after enduring a horrific tournament until today. Showed what a champion he is. Their partnership, and the efforts of Kishan and Dube pushed India to 255, and New Zealand were never in the chase.

Abhishek Sharma to Jacob Duffy, B0$ Caught by Tilak Varma!! B1$ Some other firsts as well which we'll get to. But what a performance on the night of the final. Saved their best for last and absolutely vanquished New Zealand who were no match. Slightly short from Abhishek, Duffy pulls in the air and Tilak hangs onto it at the edge of the long-on boundary. He wasn't sure if his momentum would take him over the line so he tossed it in the air before grabbing the rebound. Then throws the ball high in the air in celebration before catching Kishan who jumps onto him. The celebrations begin... B2$

Abhishek Sharma to Jacob Duffy, B0$ Caught!!

Abhishek Sharma to Lockie Ferguson, 1 run, plenty of flight outside off, lands on a good length, Ferguson goes hard on the drive but gets it nowhere near the middle

B0$ \n40 - Jasprit Bumrah (ER: 5.66) \n38 - Lasith Malinga (ER: 7.43 \n38 - Anrich Nortje (ER: 5.71) \n36 - Arshdeep Singh (ER: 7.79) \n36 - Tim Southee (ER: 6.99) \n \nB1$ \n4/12 - Ajantha Mendis vs WI, Colombo RPS, 2012 Final \n4/15 - Jasprit Bumrah vs NZ, Ahmedabad, 2026 Final \n4/26 - Shadab Khan vs AUS, Dubai, 2021 SF

Abhishek Sharma to Jacob Duffy, 1 run, short and turning away from off, Duffy mistimes the pull down to long-on

Abhishek Sharma to Lockie Ferguson, 1 run, slightly short, Ferguson goes hard on the pull, miscues it in the air and it drops short of long-on

Abhishek Sharma to Jacob Duffy, 1 run, cleverly bowls it wide of off as Duffy advances, he reaches out and toe-ends it to long-off

Hardik Pandya to Mitchell Santner, 1 run, to backward square leg,

Hardik Pandya to James Neesham, 1 run, hard length at the stumps, pulled to deep midwicket

Hardik Pandya to James Neesham, B0$, tries a wide yorker but it's outside the marker

Hardik Pandya to Mitchell Santner, 1 run, short of length at the body, pulls it behind square

Hardik Pandya to Mitchell Santner, no run, appeal from Hardik for LBW, not given and he has convinced his captain to go for it. B0$ It's a yorker from over the wicket, sneaks past the inside edge and hits Santner on the back leg. Oh this is close. Has pitched only just outside leg, maybe a millimeter in it. Santner, when he saw the replay, was walking off. But he has survived!

B0$

Appeal from Hardik for LBW, not given and he has convinced his captain to go for it. Review taken!

B0$

Axar Patel to James Neesham, B0$, down leg, Neesham shuffles across and paddles it past short fine

B0$

Axar Patel to Daryl Mitchell, B0$ Caught by Ishan Kishan!! Hits a full toss straight to deep midwicket. Everything Axar touches turns to gold. Should've been whacked out of the ground but Mitchell probably got it a little high on the bat. Goes flat to Kishan for his third catch of the evening. B1$

Axar Patel to Daryl Mitchell, B0$ Caught!!

Axar Patel to Daryl Mitchell, no run, goes for a slog-sweep but the line is pretty wide outside off. Beaten!

Axar Patel to Mitchell Santner, 1 run, flat on leg, darted into the pads, Santner tucks it through square leg

Axar Patel to Mitchell Santner, B0$, now a misfield from Hardik and it sneaks through for four! Not his best moments on the field. Wide line outside off again, and it's off the toe-end again as it dribbles past backward point. Should've been a single at max

Axar Patel to Mitchell Santner, no run, B0$ Cleverly bowled, slanted away wide of off from round the wicket, makes Santner reach for it and he gets it right off the toe-end. Should've been gobbled at backward point but Hardik makes a meal of it

B0$

Varun Chakaravarthy to Mitchell Santner, 1 run, seam-up on middle and leg, back of a length, Santner punches down to long-off

Varun Chakaravarthy to Mitchell Santner, B0$, change in angle doesn't work for Varun. Switches to over the wicket, too full perhaps and Santner whacks it over long-on

Varun Chakaravarthy to Mitchell Santner, B0$, uses his feet and lofts it straight back! It was floated up on off, Santner got right to the pitch before hitting through the line

Varun Chakaravarthy to Daryl Mitchell, 1 run, flat outside off, it's a legbreak on a good length and Mitchell cuts to sweeper cover

Varun Chakaravarthy to Mitchell Santner, 1 run, googly on middle, Santner slogs across the line and it B0$. Falls safely fine of short third

Varun Chakaravarthy to Daryl Mitchell, 1 run, googly outside off, fullish, Mitchell tries launching down the ground and drags it off the inside half through midwicket

B0$

Change of bat for Mitchell

Arshdeep Singh to Daryl Mitchell, 1 run, wide yorker outside off, squeezed away through point and it's good to see Mitchell and Arshdeep shake hands as he runs across for the single. Hatchet buried.

B0$ with this from the venue: "Crowd with some boos"

Arshdeep Singh to Daryl Mitchell, no run, B0$. He makes animated gestures with his hands while walking towards him aggressively. Surya now tries to defuse the situation as he has a chat with Mitchell with an arm on his shoulder. Umpire also having a chat with Arshdeep. Needless throw that was. Wide yorker outside off, squeezed back down the pitch and Arshdeep has a shy at the stumps, hitting Mitchell on the thigh