Hyderabad (Telangana), March 9 (ANI): Former Indian cricketer and Telangana Minister, Mohammad Azharuddin, congratulated the Indian men's cricket team on successfully defending their T20 World Cup title by defeating New Zealand in the final of the 2026 edition on Sunday. He also expressed hope for Team India to continue the winning streak and make it a hat-trick of World Cup wins.

Mohammad Azharuddin also announced that the Telangana government will try to felicitate local hero Tilak Varma 'handsomely.'

Speaking to ANI, Mohammad Azharuddin praised the India team for their consistent performance in winning back-to-back T20 World Cups and expressed hope that the team can achieve a hat-trick of titles. He also congratulated the players and especially lauded Sanju Samson for overcoming early struggles and showing maturity in his performances later on.

'The team played very well. They've won the World Cup for the second time in a row. I hope we achieve a hat-trick. I congratulate the team from the bottom of my heart. They played very consistently. I am happy for all the players, especially for Sanju Samson for the way he struggled initially but showed maturity afterwards. If the players keep playing like this, it will be very difficult to beat Team India,' the former Indian cricketer said.

Mohammad Azharuddin praised Tilak Varma for consistently performing whenever given an opportunity and called him a true team player. He also said efforts would be made to felicitate both Tilak and Aaron George for winning the 2026 ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup.

'Tilak Varma played good as well. Whenever he gets a chance, he performs well. He's a team player. We will try to felicitate him handsomely. In fact, we will also try to felicitate India's Under 19 cricketer Aaron George, who won the 2026 U19 World Cup,' Azharuddin said.

India beat New Zealand by 96 runs to successfully defend their T20 World Cup title. The victory made India the first team to win the T20 World Cup on home soil, the first to win consecutive titles after their 2024 win, and the first to lift the trophy three times (2007, 2024, and 2026).

In the final, New Zealand won the toss and elected to field first. However, a return-to-form, record-breaking fifty from Abhishek Sharma (52 in 21 balls, with six fours and three sixes) and his 98-run stand with Samson made NZ regret the decision. Later, Samson stitched a century stand with Ishan Kishan (54 in 25 balls, with four boundaries and four sixes) to take India past the 200-run mark in the 16th over. After a brief slowdown, Shivam Dube (26* in eight balls, with three fours and two sixes) made some valuable runs to take India to 255/5, the highest total in T20WC finals.

James Neesham (3/46) was the leading wicket-taker for NZ.

In the run-chase of 256 runs, Axar and Bumrah helped India reduce the Kiwis to 72/5, despite a half-century from Tim Seifert (52 in 26 balls, with two fours and five sixes). Despite a brief partnership between Daryl Mitchell (17) and skipper Mitchell Santner (43 in 35 balls, with three fours and two sixes), India kept chipping in with wickets, and the Kiwis were bundled out for just 159 runs. (ANI)