"Abhishek Sharma has tremendous potential": Vengsarkar confident ahead of T20 WC final

India and New Zealand are set to face each other in the T20 World Cup 2026 final at Ahmedabad's Narendra Modi Stadium. While New Zealand entered the finals after defeating South Africa in the semifinal, India secured a thrilling seven-run win over Engalnd in Mumbai to book their finals berth.

Speaking to ANI, Vengsarkar said that while predicting results in the T20 format is difficult, he expects India to prevail. He also hoped that out-of-form opener Abhishek Sharma would find his rhythm on the big occasion and stressed the importance of the first six overs.

"It is very difficult to predict in this format. India is playing at home. I expect India to win. Indian players are in good form. Abhishek Sharma has got tremendous potential. There is not a lot of pressure when you are on the ground. Abhishek Sharma is not in form. I hope that he gets in form. First 6 overs are very important," Vengsarkar said.

Going into the final, India are chasing a historic treble -- becoming the first side to defend a T20 World Cup title, the first host nation to win the tournament, and the first team to claim three T20 World Cup championships. For New Zealand, the primary challenge will be containing India's star-studded batting line-up and tackling Jasprit Bumrah's unerring line and length.

India and New Zealand took contrasting paths to the final; they entered the contest on the back of strong batting performances in the semi-final. New Zealand lost to South Africa in the group stage and to England in the Super Eights but were dominant in the final four. After restricting the Proteas to 169/8, New Zealand raced to a nine-wicket win in 12.5 overs, courtesy of a stunning 33-ball hundred by Finn Allen, the fastest in T20 World Cups.

Meanwhile, for India, who were perfect in the group stage, the only blip was the loss to South Africa in the opening Super Eight contest. The semi-final against England was a high-scoring thriller, with India piling on 253/7 and England falling just seven runs short.

In their head-to-head clashes, history may favour New Zealand, but form is with India. The Black Caps have not lost a match to India in the T20 World Cup, having scored victories in 2007, 2016 and 2021. However, the host nation was dominant in their recent T20I series in India, with a comfortable 4-1 win.

India vs New Zealand T20 WC final squads:

New Zealand Squad: Tim Seifert(w), Finn Allen, Rachin Ravindra, Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Daryl Mitchell, James Neesham, Mitchell Santner(c), Cole McConchie, Matt Henry, Lockie Ferguson, Devon Conway, Kyle Jamieson, Ish Sodhi, Jacob Duffy.

India Squad: Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson(w), Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav(c), Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Rinku Singh, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav. (ANI)