India vs New Zealand T20 World Cup final press conference: Suryakumar Yadav explains Samson's return to playing XI

IND vs NZ T20 World Cup final press conference LIVE: Suryakumar wraps up his press conference, and he leaves. His last words are, “Cheers, thank you!”

IND vs NZ T20 World Cup final press conference LIVE: Explaining India's team culture, he said, “I feel a good and happy team atmosphere is key. If you want to see players happy in the ground, what you do in the dressing room is very important. Give them the freedom in the dressing room is very important. Being a captain is just a position, you need to ask every player what they want and then we can be in the same page together.”

IND vs NZ T20 World Cup final press conference LIVE: Speaking on former skipper Rohit, he said, “It is the same shoes, just different footsteps. It was not difficult, when we left, I learned a lot of things from him. I followed the same strategy, and tried to implement some new things. Hopefully it gose really well tomorrow also!”

IND vs NZ T20 World Cup final press conference LIVE: Gearing up for the final, he said, “We played them recently before the World Cup, it is almost the same team, even in the semifinals vs SA. They have been playing good cricket. We are also playing good. I'm sure it will be a good game tomorrow!”

IND vs NZ T20 World Cup final press conference LIVE: Speaking on the dew factor and time of the match, Suryakumar said, “Sometimes the time of the match just make a big factor. If at the same time, you have to act on it. If there is a difficult situation, you can't do anything. Batting has an advantage when there is dew. During bowling, you don't have any options.”

Speaking on team selection and Sanju Samson's return, he said, “I feel the tough calls, me and head coach, do it together. We see how the team will benefit and which player we should add, depending on factors like match-ups. Regarding Sanju's inclusion, we saw that in the bilateral series, the combination of Sanju, Ishan and Abhishek batting in the top worked, and so we roped him in. When he wasn't playing, he was doing everything for the team, that worked for him too. He is reaping benefits of his hard work.”

IND vs NZ T20 World Cup final press conference LIVE: Speaking on his team's mental strength, he said, “I think handling pressure is all about how calm you are in tight situations. For example, when you are in your training session and that time you put a lot of pressure on yourself, so when you go into the game, you are prepared for it. Talking to each other, feels like a proper family. Even the support staff have been in similar situations during their playing careers. A positive call is always a better options to be taken.”

IND vs NZ T20 World Cup final press conference LIVE: When asked about his career and rise to captaincy, Suryakumar said, "Its obviously a special feeling. I am also excited, so are the players, staff and fans. We are continuing the same things, six years has been a long journey for me. Leading India and that too in such a big tournament, I'm very happy and excited."

IND vs NZ T20 World Cup final press conference LIVE: Speaking in the press conference, Suryakumar said, “We will look to bat well, if we get above 250, it will be good! But we don't think or plan that way, it depends on the wicket. And how much total we get, we will defend that!”

IND vs NZ T20 World Cup final press conference LIVE: Suryakumar has arrived and the press conference has begun!

IND vs NZ T20 World Cup final press conference LIVE: The press conference will start shortly. There is a slight delay, it will start in 15-20 mins!

IND vs NZ T20 World Cup final press conference LIVE: The press conference hasn't started yet. Stay tuned folks. It will start soon!

IND vs NZ T20 World Cup final press conference LIVE: 10 minutes to go for Suryakumar's pre-match press conference!

IND vs NZ T20 World Cup final press conference LIVE: Dube will be key for India, as he was in the semifinals. Promoted to No. 4, he took on Rashid, slamming him for 22 off 8 balls and kept Dawson out of the attack. Facing leg spin and left arm orthodox in this World Cup, he has managed 56 off 24 balls at a strike rate of 233.33. He will look to take on Ravindra on Sunday.

IND vs NZ T20 World Cup final press conference LIVE: Suryakumar Yadav's press conference is scheduled for 5:45 PM. Stay tuned folks!

IND vs NZ T20 World Cup final press conference LIVE: Ahmedabad is a batting-friendly venue in this tournament. 189 is the average first innings score with an overall scoring rate of 9.13, second only to Chennai. After the venue resumed hosting games in 2021, 11 T20Is have been played under lights, with teams batting first holding a 7-4 win-loss record.

IND vs NZ T20 World Cup final press conference LIVE: Former India bowling coach Bharat Arun has also backed Varun. Speaking to Cricbuzz, he said, "Somebody should talk to him and tell him, 'Varun, you stick to your strength. Don't deviate from that. Your strength is attacking the wicket.' Most of his victims, if you analyse it, are either LBW or bowled. What does that mean? It means he's attacking the stumps. Why move away from that? One odd ball bowled wide is okay, but not when you're moving away from the stumps. He's trying to escape, and that's not going to work."

IND vs NZ T20 World Cup final press conference LIVE: Varun Chakaravarthy put in a good show in the group stage, taking four wickets. But in the Super 8 stage, he found it difficult. He started leaking runs, and his economy rate surged to 10.16. From 72 balls bowled in the Super 8s, he managed only 20 dots. In the semis, he finished with 1/64 from four overs. Bethell smashed him for 41 off 13 balls.

But NZ captain Santner is still wary of Varun's threat. Speaking in the press conference, he said, "For any bowler, when the pitch is flat, it’s a challenge. When it’s spinning or seaming, it can trouble the batters, but on a flat surface it becomes difficult for bowlers. I think everyone can go for 60 on their day."

"For Varun, he has to know that he is still a very good bowler. He is just one game away from changing the tide. It’s the same with any bowler or batter. If you are out of form, you are only one game away from being back. So it’s about going out there and proving it. It’s always a challenge, but days like that happen. It doesn’t get much harder than that. You can bank on that experience going into the next game. If you find yourself in a similar situation, you think about what it looks like and whether you can do things slightly differently," he added.

IND vs NZ T20 World Cup final press conference LIVE: “Yeah, I mean it's you you want to kind of be consistent in your approach... well, approach it the same as we did for the semi-final against South Africa... I think India you know, would be very you know, have a lot of momentum... whoever kind of can do it for a long time tomorrow um will will put in a pretty good position,” Santner said.

IND vs NZ T20 World Cup final press conference LIVE: Mitchell Santner has already addressed the media, where he made it clear that New Zealand will look to break some hearts in the T20 World Cup final. Now the ball will be in Suryakumar Yadav's court when he comes out to face the media in the evening at 05:45 PM.

IND vs NZ T20 World Cup final press conference LIVE: “Yeah, I think it's always a challenging one for the guys who aren't playing... for us it's a very matchup-based decision... when you get the buying of the whole squad, you know, it's not just the 11 out there, it's the 15 in the squad. It's the guys not playing,” Santner said.

IND vs NZ T20 World Cup final press conference LIVE: “I think in terms of the planning and the execution, it was a great series. We were challenged at times, a lot of times throughout that series. But again its you kind of build on, you know, what works, what doesnt work and you kind of take that, you know, information going forward... its obviously good conversations from that series uh into this game already,” Santner said.

“Yeah, I guess that's the goal, isn't it? Is to silence the crowd... we've seen throughout the whole World Cup that you know, a lot of teams are on similar pages, and it comes down to you know, some little moments... 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,” Santner said.

IND vs NZ T20 World Cup final press conference LIVE: “Yeah, I mean, I haven't had a look at the wicket yet. It's still under cover. But one can only assume it's going to be pretty flat. And high scoring. So, um, I think yeah, and in terms of [Jasprit Bumrah] I think he should be in everyone's conversations the way he's been going. Yeah, I think against England, he looked pretty hard to hit. He was obviously the game changer for India the other night,” Santner said.

IND vs NZ T20 World Cup final press conference LIVE: “That's the goal to silence the crowd. We have seen throughout the World Cup that many teams are on the same page. England were very close to chasing the target last night,” Santner said.

IND vs NZ T20 World Cup final press conference LIVE: “India have a momentum going in their way, especially with the batting the way they scored 250-plus,” Santner admits.