India all-rounder Hardik Pandya said that “this is just the start” of the team’s supremacy and called winning his second consecutive T20 World Cup championship the fulfillment of a personal commitment.
Pandya finished the tournament with nine wickets overall after scoring two half-centuries with the bat, including a 52 off 28 balls against Namibia. He also produced decisive spells when it mattered.
“After the win in Barbados (in 2024 final against South Africa), I promised myself that whichever tournament I play, I will play to win and I will lift the trophy. This win against New Zealand in Ahmedabad is a validation that the promise I made to myself has become a reality. And this is just the start,” PTI quoted Pandya as saying.
The four Indian players in the ICC’s Team of the 2026 T20 World Cup include the 32-year-old Pandya.
Pandya also discussed the difficulties he had encountered up to the 2024 World Cup in the Americas throughout the conversation.
“When we won the T20 World Cup in 2024, I was facing a lot of difficulties personally. Many things had happened before that tournament and things were not going my way. Before the 2024 World Cup started, I had made up my mind that I was going for redemption. I wanted to make a dominating comeback. I did that and helped my team win the trophy after 17 years,” Pandya recalled his performance in the competition that ended India’s protracted ICC event title drought.
In the previous competition, Pandya was equally effective with the bat and the ball, scoring 144 runs at an average of 48.00 and taking 11 wickets at an economy rate of 7.64.
“Coming to this T20 World Cup victory in Ahmedabad, this is something I have always lived for. I play cricket to do well for my country and win trophies. I want to win all the trophies for India,” Pandya added.
On Sunday, India became the first side to win the T20 World Cup three times since winning the tournament’s debut edition in 2007.
