New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner echoed memories of Pat Cummins’ statement from 2023 World Cup final, claiming that he wouldn’t mind breaking a few hearts ahead of T20 World Cup 2026 decider in Ahmedabad on March 8, Sunday. The left-arm spinner also seemingly took comfort that they are not favourites heading into the big clash as the defending champions have reached the final twice in a row.
“It’s obviously a challenge” – Mitchell Santner
The 34-year-old stated that he knows the challenge the tourists face but is confident that stringing in a strong team performance can put them in a good position to lift their maiden T20 World Cup trophy. He said, as quoted by India Today:
“It’s obviously a challenge. Everyone knows we’re probably not the favourite, but we don’t mind, we know we can if we do our little things well and put in a strong team performance, you know, put us in a pretty good position to hopefully lift the trophy. But yeah, don’t might breaking a few hearts to lift the trophy for once.”
🚨 MITCHELL SANTNER ON BREAKING — HEARTS 🚨
Q- 🎙️ can you think about breaking Billions heart??
Mitchell Santner:-🎙️“ Yeah ! we wouldn’t’ mind breaking Billion hearts💔 . both are good teams , there will be lot of pressure and big crowd ”
— Kiara (@crickiara) March 7, 2026
Here’s how fans on X reacted to Mitchell Santner’s statement:
Mitchell Santner sends a clear message ahead of the final. 🚨#MitchellSantner #NewZealandCricket #CricketFinal pic.twitter.com/qZB4FpZRH3
— Crictoday (@crictoday) March 7, 2026
Mitchell Santner says they’re ready to “break a few hearts” in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup final
Bold words… but beating India in a World Cup final on their own soil? That’s not just heartbreak — that’s history. 🏏🔥 pic.twitter.com/g5dvzt64n7
— Alpha (@Alpha35020) March 7, 2026
Looks like silencing the crowd has become the new cricket script after Pat Cummins. Now Mitchell Santner too.
Dear players, fans come to stadiums to enjoy cricket, not to be part of a revenge storyline.— Arvind Pandey (@PandeyjiBuilds) March 7, 2026
Mitchell Santner vibe: calm but cold 😈
“We wouldn’t mind breaking a few hearts to lift that T20 trophy.” 🏆
Sorry not sorry. #INDvsNZ #T20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/OrG1fXXl1j— Cricket Insights (@expert88135) March 7, 2026
🚨 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐈𝐍𝐍𝐄𝐑’𝐒 𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐘! 🗣️🥶
In the ICC ODI World Cup 2023 Final, Pat Cummins walked into Ahmedabad and silenced.
Can Mitchell Santner – a part-time golfer, replicate that same fearless mindset and stun the roaring 🇮🇳 crowd once more? ✍🏻
#INDvsNZ pic.twitter.com/pOsGpTeskE
— CricVerse (@CricVerse23) March 7, 2026
🚨 BIG STATEMENT BY Mitchell Santner AHEAD OF THE WORLD CUP FINAL 🚨
Mitchell Santner 🗣️
“I wouldn’t mind breaking a billion hearts and lifting the trophy,” said Santner with a smile. 😏🏆
Looks like the Kiwi skipper is ready for the big battle! ⚔️
Do you think he can… pic.twitter.com/PvZ1sJNhZK
— Santosh Mali (@maligujrati) March 7, 2026
Notably, Santner was also seen taking a picture of the actual playing surface in Ahmedabad before leading Australia to World Cup glory in 2023. Hence, fans got the same vibe as in 2023.
“The added pressure on them” – Mitchell Santner on India
Santner suggested that they will take confidence from beating South Africa, who were unbeaten in the tournament until the semi-final and said New Zealand can upset any big team on their day.
“The other night, we saw 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 about taking confidence in the fact that 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 them to win, to win this World Cup at home. I mean, it would be, like I said, we don’t want to be pretty cool for you know to win a home. 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 and put, I guess, the added pressure on them, let’s see.”
The Black Caps have reached the T20 World Cup final only once before and lost to Australia in 2021.
