NEW DELHI: New Zealand skipper Mitchell Santner won the toss and elected to bowl against defending champions India in the final of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup on Sunday at the iconic Narendra Modi Stadium.

New Zealand made one change to their playing XI, bringing in pacer Jacob Duffy in place of all rounder and off spinner Luke McConchie.

The decision means the Black Caps will rely on their pace attack early in the match while chasing under lights in the high pressure final.

India, led by Suryakumar Yadav, have retained the same playing XI that defeated England in the semifinal at Wankhede Stadium.

The defending champions have looked in strong form throughout the tournament and the team management has decided to continue with the winning combination.

Teams:

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

New Zealand: Tim Seifert(w), Finn Allen, Rachin Ravindra, Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Daryl Mitchell, James Neesham, Mitchell Santner(c), Matt Henry, Lockie Ferguson, and Jacob Duffy.

Toss trends heavily favour winners

If you look at the trends, the toss has played a crucial role in ICC T20 World Cup finals with a winning percentage of 89 percent. Eight out of nine times between 2007 and 2024, the team that won the toss has also gone on to win the match. So New Zealand have certainly made a strong start to this final after winning the toss.

The only exception came in 2009 when Sri Lanka won the toss but still lost to Pakistan by eight wickets.

T20 World Cup final toss and result trends

  • 2007 – Toss Winner: India | Match Winner: India | Result: India beat Pakistan by 5 runs

  • 2009 – Toss Winner: Sri Lanka | Match Winner: Pakistan | Result: Pakistan beat Sri Lanka by 8 wickets

  • 2010 – Toss Winner: England | Match Winner: England | Result: England beat Australia by 7 wickets

  • 2012 – Toss Winner: West Indies | Match Winner: West Indies | Result: West Indies beat Sri Lanka by 36 runs

  • 2014 – Toss Winner: Sri Lanka | Match Winner: Sri Lanka | Result: Sri Lanka beat India by 6 wickets

  • 2016 – Toss Winner: West Indies | Match Winner: West Indies | Result: West Indies beat England by 4 wickets

  • 2021 – Toss Winner: Australia | Match Winner: Australia | Result: Australia beat New Zealand by 8 wickets

  • 2022 – Toss Winner: England | Match Winner: England | Result: England beat Pakistan by 5 wickets

  • 2024 – Toss Winner: India | Match Winner: India | Result: India beat South Africa by 7 runs