India defeated New Zealand by 96 runs in the final in Ahmedabad.
Harbhajan Singh, ex-India spinner, has rubbished the notion that Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad is a panauti (inauspicious) for the Indian team. His words came after India defeated New Zealand in the final of the T20 World Cup 2026 on Sunday, March 8, to become three-time T20 World champions.
The argument over the venue heated up following India's defeat to Australia in the 2023 Cricket World Cup final at the same stadium. However, Harbhajan argued that the loss had nothing to do with the venue and was simply down to Australia playing superior cricket in that match.
“When two good teams play against each other, one will obviously lose. When India played against Australia (in 2023), Australia was the better team on that particular day.
In this game, we saw that if you put your right foot forward from ball one, you will get the results. Whatever people used to think, that this ground is a ‘panauti’ (unlucky) or whatever I have heard on social media, that is done and dusted now,” Harbhajan Singh told India Today.
Harbhajan also noted that similar misconceptions existed regarding another prominent location, Kolkata's Eden Gardens, until the results improved.
"A lot of people talk about Eden Gardens as well. Eden didn’t have the best of records, but somewhere down the line, it changed. Luckily, in our era, we managed to do that. A lot of people talk about this Ahmedabad stadium as well—if the game is happening there, India might lose. But it has nothing to do with the cricketers or the result of the game. It is the mindset of the people who have never played cricket,” Harbhajan added.
His comments echo those of another offie, R Ashwin, who had advised fans not to regard the Ahmedabad site as a jinx ahead of India's final match against New Zealand in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup.
“You can lose a game at a venue and win the next one. What is there in this? We have won a lot of games in that stadium. Don’t make a stadium like this taboo. I don’t think it should come into play. I am sure, after a point in time, that monkey on the back will be there. But now, I don’t think the team will be thinking on those lines,” Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.
Coming to the match, Mitchell Santner, New Zealand's captain, won the toss and asked India to bat first. However, the decision backfired, as India scored a mammoth 255/5 in 20 overs, including half-centuries from Ishan Kishan (54), Abhishek Sharma (52), and Sanju Samson (89).
In response, New Zealand scored only 159 runs and lost by 96 runs, despite 52 from Tim Seifert and 43 from Mitchell Santner. Jasprit Bumrah took 4/15 as India successfully defended their T20 World Cup title, becoming the first team to win the competition three times.