ICC T20 World Cup Player of the Final winners: Who will be the Man of Match in IND vs NZ final today? | Cricket News
2 min readMar 8, 2026 04:24 PM IST
ICC T20 World Cup Player of the Final winners: The 2026 Men’s T20 World Cup will come to a close tonight in Ahmedabad as India aim to defend their crown against dark horses New Zealand.
FOLLOW LIVE: IND VS NZ T20 WORLD CUP FINAL UPDATES
The T20 World Cup finals have always endured intense contests across the previous nine editions, with several individual stepping up come the big day. After he had a tournament to forget throughout the entire 2024 edition, India legend Virat Kohli stepped up in the final against South Africa in Barbados 20 months ago. With India suffering an early collapse, Kohli’s immense maturity helped him bat through the innings, steering India to a match-winning 176-run total. The former India skipper absorbed the pressure to rack up 76 off 59 deliveries against the Proteas, the second-highest score by an Indian batter in a final, only behind his own 77 from the 2014 final against Sri Lanka.
ALSO CHECK: ICC T20 World Cup Player of the Tournament winners list
Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan had lit up the inagural final in 2007, producing a brilliant spell of three for 16 to help India defend a 157-run total against Pakistan by five runs. West Indies all-rounder Marlon Samuels is the only player to be adjudged Man of the Match twice in T20 World Cup finals, in 2012 and 2014.
On Sunday, a fresh name will join this exclusive list as India and New Zealand grind it out at the Narendra Modi Stadium.
Man of the Match in T20 World Cup finals
| Player | Team | Opposition | Year | Batting | Bowling |
| Irfan Pathan | India | Pakistan | 2007 | 3* (3) | 3/16 (4) |
| Shahid Afridi | Pakistan | Sri Lanka | 2009 | 54* (40) | 1/20 (4) |
| Craig Kieswetter | England | Australia | 2010 | 63 (49) | – |
| Marlon Samuels | West Indies | Sri Lanka | 2012 | 78 (56) | 1/15 (4) |
| Kumar Sangakkara | Sri Lanka | India | 2014 | 52* (35) | – |
| Marlon Samuels | West Indies | England | 2016 | 85* (66) | – |
| Mitchell Marsh | Australia | New Zealand | 2021 | 77* (50) | 0/11 (1) |
| Sam Curran | England | Pakistan | 2022 | – | 3/12 (4 |
| Virat Kohli | India | South Africa | 2024 | 76 (59) | – |
